Three Ghanaian citizens – Elikem Kotoko, Stephen Kwabena Attuh and issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese – have finally submitted a petition at the United Nations to have President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo removed as Co-Chair of the Eminent Group of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Advocates.
The petition dated Monday, March 10, 2020 was addressed to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
In their petition, the three said President Akufo-Addo has simply lost his “credence” and “relevance” to serve as the Co-Chair with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
They claim the Ghanaian leader should be “removed from same to salvage the sanctity of the Chair and seriousness expected to be attached to the United Nations (UN) SDGs”.
They cited how President Akufo-Addo has flouted Goals 6 and 13 of the SDGs.
“As your objective, under Goal 6, you stated ‘Everyone on earth should have access to safe and affordable drinking water’. It is on this basis that we lay our petition before you to justify the removal of Ghana’s president as Co-Chair of Advocates of SDGs in the supreme interest of all, especially Ghanaians, to help achieve your stated goals.”
They recounted how President Akufo-Addo had led the fight against illegal small-scale mining in Ghana albeit the phenomenon starting before his reign.
They cited media publications on the successes chalked by the Akufo-Addo-led government after just a year in the fight.
But they said the government’s dipped efforts in curbing the canker were glaring after a journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, conducted an investigation, which cited an appointee of Mr Akufo-Addo’s taking bribes to allow the wanton degradation of water bodies.
They indicated how water bodies became worse than they were and how the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) shut down some of its plants due to the levels of pollution.
“We have concluded that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has failed in his fight in Ghana against illegal mining which effectively, is failure to protect the water bodies affected by the activities of illegal miners as stated under Goal 6 of the SDGs.
“From the accounts elaborated above, it is clear that the continuous stay on the Advocates platform as a Co-Chair by Ghana’s President His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo undermines the impact and message the United Nations (UN) put across to the world.
“His continuous stay does not serve as a good example for the agenda the Advocates anticipate to achieve.”
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana