Ghanatodayonline.com News, Politics, Health, Education & More
The government is being cautioned by the Minority Caucus in Parliament to make sure that the Green Ghana Day is not used to benefit a select few.
Members of the caucus claim that in the past, such programs have been used to steal money from the government and taxpayers.
Through the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, President Akufo-Addo established Green Ghana Day in March 2021 with the goal of encouraging the planting of trees all throughout the nation.
On June 11, 2021, the inaugural event took place, at which time an estimated seven million seedlings were planted across the country.
The president reported that 85% of the trees planted during the inaugural edition were successful.
In the second phase of the initiative, the president declared the government’s intention to assist the Green Ghana initiative in 2022 by planting an extra 20 million trees.
Alhassan Suhuyini, the deputy ranking member of the Lands and Forestry Committee, expressed his concern that the government has not been transparent in accounting for the funds that go into the project during a speech he gave in Parliament on June 9 to commemorate the third Green Ghana Day.
“The President revealed to this House in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2022 that they had successfully planted 7 million trees, 2 million more than initially planned to be planted,” stated Mr. Suhuyini. However, the Minister claimed that just 4.89 million trees had actually been planted in response to a query asked in this same parliament a few weeks earlier. “Mr Speaker the question therefore is, how many trees indeed were planted and how much did we throw at the plantation of these trees?” he questioned.
Furthermore, Mr. Suhuyini said that since climate funding needs to be optimized for impact and efficacy, lawmakers should make sure that this project does not turn into a business that embezzles tax dollars.
He also emphasized that parliament must put “strategies in place to change finance and to ensure that finance that is meant for climate change and its mitigation and its adaptation are not misapplied and also give us [Ghanaians] less optimal value.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
