By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, and Paramount Chief of the Anfoega Taditional Area, Togbe Tepre Hodo IV, has hinted Ghana’s natural resources exploration is at a critical juncture which needs to be addressed by all and sundry.
According to him, the need to protect the environment should be the concern of everyone, due to its critical impact on health and livelihoods.
He has thus called on policymakers to engage and involve traditional rulers, and grassroots activists in the fight to protect Ghana’s dying water bodies, and the virgin forests. Saying Legislation and policy making alone cannot end the threat.
“Let’s get down to the grassroots and see how best we can tackle this problem.
I thus encourage organizers of this conference to focus also on the need to get traditional rulers and other grassroots stakeholders involved in these efforts. That is the only way. Legislation alone cannot do it. Policy Making alone cannot do it.
The inclusion of these key stakeholders will ensure that traditional rulers and grassroots partners play their critical roles in the fight to preserve and protect the environment,” the President of Volta Regional House of Chiefs said.
Togbe Tepre Hodo IV, who chaired the opening ceremony of the 2024 edition of the Mole WASH Conference which is currently underway at the Volta Regional capital Ho gave the hint during the opening remarks.
“This conference opens at a critical time when we need to take a second look at our natural resource exploitation since we can all see how it is destroying our water bodies and threatening the health of all citizens,”
Togbe Hodo IV, lauded the organizers of the conference, urging them to come out with concrete proposals that would help the country to deal with the menace of environmental degradation and water pollution, occasioned by illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, that threaten the human race.
In her welcome remarks, chairperson of the coalition of NGOs in water and sanitation (CONIWAS) Beata Awinpoka Akanyani, described the galamsey menace as a danger to the survival of all Ghanaians, urging the government and stakeholders to take decisive actions to deal with it.
The annual Mole WASH Conference is a CSO-led multi-stakeholder platform aimed at reviewing sector performance, influencing policies, removing barriers and promoting access to sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene services.
The Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) is the lead organizer of the conference, supported by member CSOs like WaterAid Ghana, World Vision Ghana, Plan International Ghana, UNICEF, the World Bank, and Global Communities, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, the World Bank-funded GAMA SWP project, among others.