Judiciary To Assist Assemblies On Intepretation Of By Laws

As part of its quest to protect the citizenry from avoidable environmental ailments the NPP government and her development partners has consider the need to revisit the old sanitary monitoring system code named ‘saman-samana/tankasi”. This according to environmental health scientists made giant impact in the lives of most Ghanaians when it was in used some years past.

It was for this reason that the ministry of local government and rural development on 12th December, 2006 launched the national ‘sanitation enforcement and compliance programme’ at Techiman. It was aimed at enhancing the work of sanitary inspectors in the country.

In a speech read on his behalf, the chief justice, Justice Kinsley George Aquah appealed to the various district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies to enact by laws that would be gazette by a competent law court. According to him most of the by laws used in the past were without proper legal backing making the work of the sanitary inspectorate more difficult. Justice Aquah re-affirmed the willingness of the judiciary to support the local assemblies in the interpretation of their operating by-laws.

He took the opportunity to entreat all courts in the 122 district, metropolitan and municipal assemblies to set aside a day within a week to consider environmental related cases. This he reiterated when done will help improve environmtal conditions in Ghana, particularly in densely populated areas where residents give little recognition to proper hygiene which had over the years been seen as the hall mark of cleanliness.

The chief justice further advised that because cleanliness is next to Godliness the electorates should come clean and reason with their respective chief executives in their attempt to fight against solid and liquid waste in their areas.

The newly elected chief executives were cautioned not to work tirelessly towards achieving their parochial ambitions but should consider the interest of the people they serve in all their endeavours.

Speaking under the theme ‘enforcing sanitation through education and courts, keep your surroundings clean’, the chairman of parliamentary select committee on local government and rural development, Hon. Isaac Edumadze stressed the importance of making the nation free of filth. He emphasized that in order for the campaign to be successful all hands must be on deck irrespective of one’s political affiliation or beliefs, adding ‘ it should be seen a shared responsibility’.

Hon. Edumadze who is also the NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Ejumako Assian Anyan constituency in the central region told the gathering chaired by the paramount chief of Techiman traditional area Oseadeayo Akumfi Ameyaw IV that the government has put in place enough measures to reverse the poor environmental situation in Ghana. Inaugurating the programme, Hon. Asamoah Boateng said sanitation issue is a threat to all Ghanaians and it transcends political affiliation. To this end, he appealed to Ghanaians to take the issue of sanitation seriously. He said as one moves around in our towns and villages, one is confronted with filthy environments and the situation needs to be looked into seriously. Hon. Boateng admitted that even though the ‘Saman Saman’ programme is not a new one, there is the need to rekindle it now that the population has risen to an astronomical level.

He also appealed to technocrats to come out with waste management technologies to help rid our communities of filth. He was of the view that even though the ‘Saman Saman’ concept is laudable, since it is a human institution all hands should be on deck to make it work to the benefit of mankind. According to Hon. Asamoah Boateng it is the objective of the concept to have clean environment and appealed to Ghanaians to change their attitude to enable the system work.

The Minister for Manpower Development, Hon. Boniface Abubakar Sidiqque told the huge crowd that, so far, his outfit has employed seventy eight thousand (78,000) people in areas such as agriculture, rural teaching, auxiliary community nursing, community policing, waste management among others.

On his part, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Ignatious Baffour Awuah he was not surprised that Techiman was chosen for the re-launching of the programme because, the municipality was recently chosen as the neatest place in the region. He was however quick to add that, this brings a huge challenge for the people of Techiman to prove their mettle by making sure that they brace the trail in environmental cleanliness. He said even though Ghanaians are noted for being clean in their dressing, what is lacking is how to keep their environments clean. He reminded the gathering that prevention is better than cure.

The Omanhene of Techiman traditional area, Oseadeayo Akumfi Ameyaw IV charged on Ghanaians not to politicize environmental related issues.

A day before the launching of the programme which took place at the Techiman Methodist Park on 12th December 2006, the people of the municipality, led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Prince Yaw Donyina embarked on a massive clean-up of the nooks and cronies of the Techiman Township. The huge enthusiastic crowd that took part in the clean-up exercise threw away their political leanings and happily got involved in the exercise. The physically challenged were not left out as they also participated in their own small way.