Caesar Abagali/Rashid Mbugri, GNA
Tamale, Sept. 23, GNA
– Experts from diverse professional background in Ghana have come together as
an association with the aim of greening northern Ghana to improve
socio-economic situation of the area.
The experts includes
doctors, veterinary officers, some former ministers of state and other high
office holders, top media practitioners, university professors amongst other
technocrats.
The Greening Northern
Ghana (GNG) association at the weekend organised it’s maiden national general
meeting with its members to discuss and deliberate on how to sustainably
improve on tree growing and grass cultivation in northern Ghana.
This was to help
ensure an ever green plantation throughout the northern zone.
The GNG is a
voluntarily non-profit, non-partisan, non-ethnic and a non-religious
organization.
It aims at planting
and nurturing 10.5 million trees within a period of 10 years, cultivating
larger acres of grass land in selected areas within northern Ghana as well as
consistently engaging key stakeholders in greening advocacy throughout the
zone.
The GNG also has a
website “kologsoft.com/gng/” developed to provide more information
for people across the world to facilitate more in the marketing and sales of
GNG.
During the meeting, Mr
Boniface Gambila, a former Upper East Regional Minister, who moderated the
meeting and a founding member of GNG, said GNG would have some of its members
selected within the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions to help in
coordinating some of the activities of the GNG across their respective regions.
He said GNG would be
setting out roles for some volunteers representing three regions in the north
to undertake some of the action plans of the association.
Mr Gambila said
specialised executive committees would also be set up to steer affairs of GNG.
He, however, appealed
to government, investors and donor funding organizations to help assist GNG
both financially and logistically to make it’s vision a reality.
Alhaji Abdallah Otito
Achuliwor, the Acting Chairman of GNG, said it was GNG’s hope to green northern
Ghana in the next 25 years to help prevent desertification and provide means of
livelihood and shelter to everyone in the country.
He said membership was
free for everyone who was passionate about improving on the vegetative cover
within the zone and urged both Ghanaians and foreigners to join GNG to make
Ghana a better place.
Mr Charles Mambuliya,
the Coordinator of the GNG, said the initiative of GNG through tree planting
and grass cultivation was to help improve on rainfall and also serve as wind
breaks.
He said the GNG has a vision of planting at
least 27 to 28 million trees, with each tree representing each person in the
country.
Mr Mambuliya said the
GNG would come out with effective proposals and implement them to restore grass
and trees within the northern zone as well as educate communities with the zone
to adopt them to ensure that the grass and trees would not be destroyed by
bushfires.
He urged citizens to
take interest and be passionate about re-afforestation to help restore grass
and trees to make northern Ghana greener again.
GNA