Instead of urging the government to take action, Rt. Rev. Dr. Hilliard K. Dela Dogbe, Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, has urged church leaders to intentionally educate their flocks about illicit mining.
Since some of the persons engaged in illicit mining, or galamsey as it is known locally, were present in the churches, he claimed that merely urging the government to intervene was insufficient.
"The church must bring the issue before the congregation, particularly in places where the practise is widespread. In his first interview with the press following his election, he said last Thursday, "Let the members know how they are slowly killing themselves and destroying water bodies and the overall ecosystem."
At the council's annual general meeting in Accra on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, Rt. Rev. Dr. Dogbe was chosen.
In replacing the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. J.O.Y. Mante, he becomes the first member of the AME Zion Church to lead the Christian Council of Ghana.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Hilliard K. Dela Dogbe is the Presiding Bishop of the Western West Africa Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (A.M.E. Zion Church), which includes Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Angola.
He serves as the A. M. E. Zion Church's first resident indigenous bishop in Ghana. Rt. Rev. Dr. Dogbe attended Accra Academy and the University of Ghana, Trinity College, in Legon.
He received a Master of Arts in Practical Theology (Christian Education) from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, and a Master of Theology in Pastoral Care and Counselling from Trinity Theological Seminary in Accra, Ghana.
Additionally, he has a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Practical Theology with distinction from the Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as other credentials in management and leadership.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Dogbe expressed gratitude to the council members for their support and for electing him while he was away from the nation.
He stated, "I was really in Kenya for an All African Council of Churches conference.
When asked if his election as resident bishop of the AME Zion Church had come as a surprise to him, he said that it had not.
The highest position the AME Zion has been allowed to occupy is vice chairman, which he previously held for two years. This is despite the church being a founding member of the CCG.
According to Rt. Rev. Dr. Dogbe, he was aware that it would happen, but not as quickly as it did.
He praised Rt. Rev. Prof. Mante and his other predecessors for their skillful management of the council's operations.
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He said that the council's main goals were to advocate for causes, help churches expand their capacities, and deal with issues that would affect the wellbeing of the nation's citizens.
I think some religious leaders have been a little uneasy about how politicians think the council ought to operate in recent years, he claimed.
In order to ensure that "we are not running after the event but that we are being more proactive in what we are supposed to do," he stated that his goal was to cooperate with the general secretary and the whole leadership.
ability: "For instance, what is the council doing to support efforts to increase the ability of church leaders such that they would be able to talk and act appropriately in the case of political unrest?
"I believe that these are the things we need to be doing; we don't need to wait until election years to listen to politicians and then applaud or reprimand them when they say the correct or wrong thing.
I believe that in order for the church and the populace to act as followers of God in their daily lives, it is necessary to prepare them.
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