Key points
- Gyamfi says toxins from illegal mining are entering the food chain and may harm unborn children.
- He says data from Catholic hospitals shows birth deformities rising “very, very high.”
- Rural residents now buy drinking water as polluted rivers lose their fish.
The president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, has warned that toxic chemicals from illegal mining, known as galamsey, are entering the human food chain and may be contributing to a rise in birth deformities.
He said chemicals used in illegal mining have contaminated water bodies and the environment, putting communities at risk, particularly pregnant women and unborn children.
“We are told these poisons get into the food chain and we ingest them by eating, and we hear that there are consequences. Even doctors tell us that for those who take in this poison, it affects the foetus, so babies are born deformed,” he said on Joy FM.
Rising deformities
Gyamfi said the Church has seen an increase in deformities among children, based on data from Catholic health facilities.
“Not that there were no babies born with deformities, but the rate is going up very, very high, at least from our Catholic hospitals where we have access to the data,” he said.
The claim is his own account of hospital data, and he did not publish figures or name a confirmed cause.
Water, fish and living costs
The chemicals also damage water sources. “The chemicals they use in galamsey get into our water bodies; they kill the fish, and we cannot drink the water any longer,” he said.
As a result, rural residents face added costs. “In the villages, even now, we have to buy water to drink… and when rivers are dead, there is no fish,” he said.
Call for stronger action
Gyamfi acknowledged that efforts to fight illegal mining have improved but said progress is not enough for the scale of the problem. He called for stronger action to protect water bodies and communities.
His comments come amid a continuing national debate over the environmental and public-health effects of galamsey, including contamination of water and farmland.
