The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has disclosed that the campaign against illegal mining (galamsey) must be intensified to bolster the Green Ghana Initiative.
He said the agenda to restore the country’s degraded landscape through an aggressive tree-planting exercise would come to naught if bold steps are not taken to tackle illegal mining and other human activities that degrade the environment.
“We have to act together to stop this galamsey that destroys the land that we are trying to rebuild or the forest we are trying to restore; Otherwise, we are not doing anything. If I am planting a tree now and in the next five years someone will come and cut it for galamsey, my effort will be useless.”
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin
Posterity would not forgive the current generation, Okyehene warns
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin called for an all-hands-on-deck approach to clamp down on perpetrators of galamsey to give real meaning to the Green Ghana Initiative.
The Okyehene said posterity would not forgive the current generation if adequate measures are not put to safeguard the environment from more destruction.
“It is selfish that we should dig all the gold from the ground and cut down all the trees for parochial gain to deny future generations natural resources and a healthy environment. I am delighted that the government has seen the need to replant, restore and replenish degraded forests. This is good because it is our future, and when we plant 20 million trees, we are planting our future to be free from diseases and climate change.”
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin
He said given the pivotal role chiefs play in mobilization for development; it is important for them to be made part of the entire process of the Green Ghana project.
“If Nananom are asked to lead the mobilization for tree planting, we need to be part of the negotiation, arrangement, and the entire process so that the people at the local level can own the project.”
Osagyefuo Ofori Panin
The Okyenhene made these assertions when the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission (FC), John Allotey, led a delegation from the Ministry of Lands and Natural resources and the FC to his palace in Kyebi in the Eastern Region to court his support for the Green Ghana Day (GGD) exercise. Also in the delegation was the Technical Director of Forestry at the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry, Joseph Osiakwan.
Mobilizing for a Greener Future
Mr. Allotey entreated the Okyenhene to use his influence to mobilize people in the area for the tree-planting exercise.
“We know that Osagyefuo is committed to forest conservation and responsible mining issues, so we want your support for the exercise to be successful,” he said and commended the Okyenhene for his role in the 2021 GGD exercise.
The theme for this year’s exercise is “Mobilizing for a Greener Future” and it is scheduled for June 10, 2022.
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