Akufo-Addo rallies Ghanaians to protect environment
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated the need to protect the environment and restore lands and water bodies as the country marks its 60th Anniversary.
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Expressing concern over the alarming rate at which the country’s natural resources were depleting, the President stated that he was confident that “we will continue to make ourselves worthy inheritors of this land.”
“After sixty years, we have run out of excuses and it is time to set Ghana to rights and get our country to where it should be… It is turning out to be a constant refrain, but, on a day like this, we cannot ignore the state of our environment.
“We are endangering the very survival of the beautiful and blessed land that our forebears bequeathed to us. The dense forests, that were home to varied trees, plants and fauna, have largely disappeared. Today, we import timber for our use, and the description of our land as a tropical forest no longer fits the reality. Our rivers and lakes are disappearing, and those that still exist are all polluted.”
President Akufo-Addo expressed these concerns at the 60th Anniversary celebrations at the Black Star Square in Accra, Monday.
He noted that in as much as “We have a right to exploit the bounties of the earth and extract the minerals and even redirect the path of the rivers, but we do not have the right to denude the land of the plants and fauna nor poison the rivers and lakes.
“There is nothing we can do better to pay homage to those who fought to free us from bondage than to dedicate this 60th independence anniversary to protecting our environment and regenerating the lands and water bodies,” he added.
The President nonetheless expressed confidence that the current generation of Ghanaians would not disappoint the fighters of our independence and that they will achieve their dreams.
“I know that we will wear the accolade of being a Ghanaian with pride. Let us mobilize for the happy and prosperous Ghana of tomorrow, in which all of us, including our youth, our women and the vulnerable in our society, will have equal opportunities to realise their potential, and build lives of dignity. Then, our independence will be meaningful. Then, we will have a Ghana beyond aid,” he noted.
Read the President's full address here