President Jerry John Rawlings on Wednesday swore into office a Deputy Minister of Health and a nine-member Forestry Commission at the Castle, Osu. Mr Charles Mante Akrasu-Kpabitey swore the official oath, the oath of secrecy and the oath of allegiance as a Deputy Minister of Health after which the President congratulated him and handed him his patchment of office. The Forestry Commission is under the chairmanship of Naa Poube Chiire, Nandom Naa. Its members are Mr S.K. Appiah, Chief Executive of the Commission and Mr Kojo Wereko-Brobbey, a lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Others are Capt Seth Amponsah(RTD), an accountant, Miss Cecilia Amoah, a lecturer, Mr Michael Pepra, Managing Director of Scanstyle, Miss Sakeena Bonsu, a social scientist and Mrs Cyntha Nunoo, Secretary of Friends of the Zoos. The 1992 constitution assigned the Forestry Commission with the responsibility for ”the regulation and management of forest and wildlife resources” and the co-ordination of policies in relation to them. President Rawlings spoke about the nation’s depleting forests and said people must be made aware of the need to conserve the dwindling forests. He urged members of the commission to be steadfast in the discharge of their duties. ”People will come at you, you will be subjected to great temptations. Just ignore them and do your work. You will get support form the government”. Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, Chairman of the Council of State, suggested that people living in the northern part of the country should be encouraged to grow more shea trees to serve as a buffer against the southward movement of the Sahara Desert. He told the commission members ”much is expected from you. I know you can do it”. Mr Richard Dornu-Nartey, Deputy Minister of Lands and Forestry, told members of the commission that the government would rely on them to come out with a workable programme to curb the decline in the country’s forest resources. “It is our hope that we will be able to rejuvenate within 20 years what we have taken 50 years to destroy”. He said with passage of the Forestry Bill, the sector could attract young people to go into tree plantation. ”Encourage the district assemblies to go into it so we can all rejuvenate our forests”.
