NO GLORY IN THE LAND…
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister-designate says, he will be more aggressive in tackling Ghana’s alarming loss of forest cover. He intimated during his vetting that it was time for larger re-afforestation interventions. That is a refreshing piece of news.
The question of deforestation especially resulting from illegal mining in protected forest reserves in the last couple of months have been brought to the fore by the Ghanaian media. The stories have been chilling and depressing.
The Forestry Commission in a 2016 report indicated that about 80% of Ghana’s forest resources under state management have been lost to illegal logging activity since 1990. That is scary!
Global Forest Watch (GFW) in 2019 estimated that there was a 60% increase in Ghana’s primary rain-forest loss in 2018 compared to 2017. That was the highest in the world for the year. While clearing for crop farming is still a leading cause of deforestation, mining present the biggest threat. It is estimated that the country will need at least $29 billion ‘to help restore’ the impact of the environmental damage caused by illegal small-scale mining also known as galamsey. I am haunted all the time by the effects of galamsey on our environment, especially, our water-bodies. I wrote about the menace of galamsey a few weeks ago (see https://nathanaidoo.com/2021/02/12/rule-of-law-or-rule-of-powerful-men/) so I do not intend to rehash the argument. We must express our moral outrage at the destruction we are causing the next generation.
It gets even more disheartening when snippets of information are flying around that the former minister of Lands and Natural Resources is penciled in for a fresh appointment as the ambassador to China. I mean, how low can it get, Mr.President? This was a man who headed the ministry at the time when the exportation of rosewood was supposedly banned in Ghana. Yet, in that same year, data available to the ministry indicated that 147,000 kg of rosewood was imported from Ghana into China. The minister didn’t have the courtesy or conscience to resign. It seems to me that the President is bent on rewarding incompetence, with any pretense of fidelity to competence sacrificed on the altar of political motivations.
I really wish the Lands and Natural Resources minister well in his proposed tree-planting exercise on world environment day. It is our duty to protect the environment for our children. A tree planted today may save a life tomorrow.
I traveled from Tema to Koforidua a couple of months ago. On my way, I came across several villages. The people of these communities are predominantly farmers but something else intrigued me. There were posters of political parties all over the villages. Apparently, the politics of elections have permeated every corner of this country. Why then is the politics of development slow in reaching these areas, I wondered. What was interesting in my conversations with a lot of these folks was the extent to which they have given up on politics. Politics is meant to be a force for change, a force to eradicate the penury conditions, most of our folks live in, however, it is clear the sort of politics we practice in this part of the world has failed to achieve that. It was interesting to me how politically conscious these folks were and yet have an almost indifferent attitude to the government ever responding to their needs.
To them, the only way they can have a share of the national cake is during the electioneering campaign season. In exchange for monetary “gifts”, they give their votes to these politicians and move on with their lives.
My first question was, why would a politician feel comfortable with his poster on a mud house on the brink of collapse?
Election after election, nobody cares about income inequality in our society and redistribution. We talk about a false sense of social intervention programmes which really benefits politicians and technocrats more than the very people such programmes are envisaged for. We should be concerned about the down-trodden people of our country struggling for food, clothing, and shelter. We cannot be claiming to be advancing as a nation (at least statistically) yet leaving the critical vulnerable behind. I believe this country has the capacity to offer decent living for all its citizens. I’m not talking socialism. I’m talking political conscience. Our politics must seek to make life better than we met it whilst inspiring hope for the future. The political battles of our time should be against the endemic poverty, unemployment of the teeming youth and squalor conditions some of our people live in. This attitude of a few people closest to the centres of power using the lever of the state for self-aggrandizement at the detriment of the majority must stop.
And I’m quite tired of our politicians rehashing our problems to us. For Christ sake, are they saying they are not aware that is the reason we vote them into power? To solve those problems, period! Have a conversation with the average high school Economics students and they would effectively tell you the causes of underdevelopment in Ghana. So, Mr.Politician, graduate from the high school textbook and give us solutions. Tell us your short-term and long-term plans of solving the problem.
The very idea of seeing anyone who tries to hold public officials to account as adversarial is quite nonsensical. We cannot keep on defending our media, religious and political establishment in the simplistic, anti-intellectual, populist manner we seem to have perfected under this fourth republic.
I remain cautiously optimistic of the prospects of this country though. I just won’t give up yet. I know one day meritocracy will reign supreme over the land again. Shalom!!!