Safeguarding environment is a constitutional duty, join “Green Ghana” effort – President Akufo-Addo urges citizens

President Akufo-Addo has called on the country to embrace the “Green Ghana Day” initiative of his administration spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, because it is a “constitutional duty” imposed on every citizen by article 41 of the 1992 Constitution.

Addressing a brief ceremony at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) today the 1 March 2022, to launch the 2022 edition of the Green Ghana Day under the theme: ‘Mobilizing for a Greener Future’, President Akufo-Addo said the noble duty of tree planting to stop deforestation and encourage afforestation must be given all the backing it deserves by all citizen.

“Article 41 (4) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic imposes a duty on every citizen to protect and safeguard the environment. This project is one of the ways of fulfilling this constitutional obligation and we must all make it a point to participate in this national exercise,” President Akufo-Addo admonished.

“This noble venture ought to be funded and executed by our join effort and, as much as possible, without burdening the public treasury.
“We can do it and I call on all Ghanaians and residents of Ghana to contribute in diverse ways to this welcomed and worthy endeavour,” the President continued.

Success of maiden GGD

In his address, President Akufo-Addo noted that the maiden edition of the Green Ghana Day initiative exceeded its target in 2021.

As a result, government through the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Recourses, will target the planning of 20 million trees on Friday, 10 June, which is the Green Ghana Day set aside in the year 2022.

“With your support and enthusiasm, we exceeded our target of 5 million trees on the maiden Green Ghana Day by 2 million trees, thus, reaching a total of 7 million trees.

“I am informed that virtually all these trees are doing very well and this encourages us to continue with the project and to do even more,” Akufo-Addo noted.

“This year we have raised our target and we are committed to planting at least 20 million trees. This requires that we mobilize the entire population to ensure that each Ghanaian and each foreigner, that is, every resident in Ghana, plants at least one tree,” the President said.

2022 GGD agenda

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor in a brief statement noted, “This year’s Green Ghana Day will witness the planting of trees on degraded forest lands, both on and off reserves, watersheds, boundaries, office compounds, and sites within communities, including parks, roadsides, homes, farmsteads, churches, mosques and schools”.

“We will collaborate with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Parks and Gardens and all relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, to make this endeavour successful,” Abu Jinapor said.

Ambitious plan

According to the Lands and Natural Resource Minister, “Planting twenty million trees is very ambitious, and will require a lot of resources. In the coming days, we will be coming to you for your support, and it is our hope that you will contribute to this noble cause.”

“We have a moral obligation to protect our forests and, particularly, those of us whose operations impact the environment the most, must know that we have a higher obligation in this regard,” he added.

Wilberforce Asare

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