Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin, his two Deputies, Clerk and Deputies and Staff of Parliament on Friday joined in the national tree planting exercise dubbed “Green Ghana.”
Green Ghana is an initiative of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that aims at planting five million trees on a single day, June 11, across the country.
Some of the trees being planted were timber, Wawa, Dawa Dawa, mango, and rosewood, cashew and shea- butter.
The nationwide afforestation exercise involved the President, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, and other high-profile personalities.
On Friday, at the Parliament House, in Osu-Accra, the Speaker led the exercise during which some seedlings were planted, on the precincts of the House and later MPs residences at Sakumono, near Tema.
The exercise at the precincts of the House was partnered by the National Investment Bank, Parliament House Branch.
Speaker Bagbin, in a statement before the exercise, said, "the Parliament of the Republic remains committed to the promotion of a sustainable green environment in Ghana."
He said the planted seedlings needed to be nursed, nurtured and monitored for proper growth and maturity.
According to the Speaker, trees are the biggest plants on the planet and are very essential for life, and “their importance cannot be underrated as their function expand to meet the needs generated by our modern lifestyles."
Speaker Bagbin believed that the Green Ghana Project was a special opportunity to recover lost vegetation.
Mr Oteng, the Clerk to Parliament, announced that Parliament was in the process of planting trees in the MPs Flats Area at Sakumono to secure its boundaries.
He said it was necessary to plant trees at a time climate change and illegal mining were fast destroying the environment and to reclaim degraded forests.
Baba Inusah, Principal Assistant Clerk to Parliament, cautioned against wasting the environment, saying “those who waste the environment are Satan’s brothers.
He emphasized the need to change negative attitudes to the environment, and with a reference to the Holy Qur’an said that Allah warned that, “I’ll not change the condition of the people unless they changed their attitude.”
The national tree-planting exercise was being held in the 275 Constituencies simultaneously.
After he had planted his seedling, the Speaker was followed by First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu, Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah Amoako, Clerk to Parliament Cyril Nsiah, Acting Deputy Clerk Ebenezer Ahumah Djiretror; and Mr Frank Aidoo, who represented the NIB.
The Police Band, with percussive instruments, livened the place with music.
Speaker Bagbin, a day earlier, on Thursday, 10th June 2021, had directed a no-sitting for the MPs on the Green Ghana Day to enable them to go into their constituencies and lead the tree-planting exercise.
