The Bolgatanga Area Head of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle David Amankwaa, has said that Ghana will experience growth, development, and peace when citizenry engage in environmental cleanliness.
He said this during the launching of the Area’s 2024 Environmental Care Campaign at Namoo District in the Bolga Area on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
In a sermon titled “My Environment, My Responsibility,” with references from Psalm 24:1 and Genesis 2:15, Apostle David Amankwaa explained that the text above means that every human being has a responsibility to keep the environment clean.
“Christians and non-Christians must appreciate that the earth and everything within it are for the Lord and not for human beings. Human beings are only stewards and must take good care of it and to give account one day.”
Accordimg to him, human beings have been put in charge of the earth to watch over it, work it, dress it, protect and preserve it.
“We have the mandate to preserve the elements in the three worlds – the animals, the trees, the seas etc. God is not only concerned about human beings but everything in the three worlds,” he added.
Quoting from Genesis 8:1 the Bolga Area Head revealed that during the flood in the days of Noah, God did not only preserve human beings but also all living creatures of every kind.
Apostle Amankwaa identified five stakeholders – Chiefs, Citizens, Leaders of religious bodies, NMDCEs, and Parents and Guardians, and their responsibilities in ensuring a clean environment as follows:
After defining the constitutional definition of a Chief, he enumerated these as the responsibilities to be played by Chiefs among others – to mete out penal measures on persons who refuses to attend organised communal labour, to organise elders of communities to think about welfare of the community, organise community members for their views on how keep to keep the environment clean, and to ensures all faith-based bodies and other institutions part-take in environmental care.
On citizens, the Apostle said, they are to take active part in communal labor, to clean their immediate environment, and to ensure proper use of dustbins and waste disposal site.
Leaders of religious bodies were also admonished to sensitise their members on need for cleanliness, participate in tree planting exercise, raising intercession for communities and mete punitive measure to members who abuse the environment.
The NMDCEs were to organise meeting with all heads of institutions on the need of environmental cleanliness, and to task heads of schools to engage students once a month in clean up exercise to instill the habit.
Apostle Amankwaa concluded his sermon with the role of parents and guardians.
He admonished them to educate children on the need for clean environment, and being example to children by cleaning the environment.
The Overlord of Namoo Traditional Area, Naaba Saibu Alagtaaba Kubila Benkoom, expressed gratitude to The Church of Pentecost for selecting Namoo as the venue for launch ceremony of this year’s Environmental Care Campaign.
He encouraged citizens to embrace the initiatives of the Church and pledged to support efforts to make Namoo the cleanest community in the Upper East Region.
He then called on all not to sit back whenever they are called to engage in a proposed monthly communal cleanup exercise as failure to do so will result in a penal measure.
Additionally, the District Chief Executive for Bongo District, Hon. Rita Atanga also expressed gratitude for the church’s initiatives and called for partnership in addressing sanitation challenges, including the construction of sanitation facilities.
In attendance were Mrs. Rosemond Amankwaa, wife of Bolga Area Head, all the 32 ministers and some ministers wives in the Bolga Area, representatives from Ghana Police service, Ghana Immigration Service, Zoomlion, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, and the Media among others.
Report by Bolga Media Area Team.