During a short ceremony on September 17, 2021, in Accra, he said the donation is proof of the transparency in the management of the country’s natural resources as promised by the President.

Mr Jinapor said as appointees given the opportunity to assist the President in managing the natural resources, they will ensure that this transparency is carried out with a high sense of integrity.

“We will go on to work to ensure the cartel and syndicate behind the harvesting and exportation of rosewood are dealt with to help protect our environment,” he added.

This follows the inspection and confiscation of five containers of Rosewood by the Sector Minister, Mr Jinapor at the Tema Port on Friday, July 30, 2021.

It was on that occasion that he disclosed the intention of the government to donate all confiscated Rosewood towards the construction of the National Cathedral.

Meanwhile, Mr Jinapor, has hinted that the government is putting in place measures to ensure that Ghana does not become a criminal transit point for Rosewood trade and exportation.

On his part, Deputy Minister of Finance, John Kumah, expressed his profound gratitude to the Mr Jinapor and the Forestry Commission for such a gracious offer towards the construction of the national edifice.

He said this means the Ministry will no longer have to cough up funds to purchase wood for the project. He also used the opportunity to appeal to Ghanaians to support in kind and cash towards the completion of the National Cathedral.

The representatives from the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral, Rev. Prof. Dr Paul Frimpong Manso and Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee also thanked the Ministry for the donation.

Rev. Manso, speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, solicited support for the cathedral.

He reiterated that the National Cathedral is not for the President, neither is it for the government, but for Ghanaians and encouraged the public to celebrate “this worthy cause”.

Rev. Dr Aryee added that “rosewood is seen as expensive wood in the world and so it is good that we are going to use this kind of wood for the house of God.”

She also called on Ghanaians to donate generously as the President has suggested, a minimum of GHS100 a month.

She said if this is really followed through, they would have more than enough funds to complete the Cathedral.

Police sources indicated the rosewood, which has been banned, was loaded from Yagaba in the Northeast Region.

One person was arrested on Saturday at a Police checkpoint on the highway.

The driver and one other occupant of the truck with registration number, GN 411-14 abandoned the vehicle and fled while a man, who later came to claim ownership of the consignment, was arrested.

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He has, however, been granted inquiry bail at the Regional Headquarters.

The truck is currently parked at the Savelugu station, pending the next step from the forestry department.

The government has revealed that five containers of rosewood impounded at the Tema Port will be allocated for use in the construction of the National Cathedral.

Speaking to JoyNews‘ Manuel Koranteng, the Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, stated that the decision by the government is to utilise the impounded rosewood to facilitate work on the National Cathedral.

“Government is taking the decision to donate all rosewood confiscated towards the construction of the National Cathedral. In addition to the ban on the export of rosewood, there will not even be a public auction for the purposes of domestic use of rosewood. All rosewood confiscated should and will be donated to the National Cathedral for the good people of this country.

“When the National Cathedral turns out to have enough of rosewood, we will take other measures either to donate it to other public institutions and if we are even-minded, at any stage, to have a public auction for domestic use, be rest assured that it will be done in a sense of integrity,” he said.  

The containers, which are being evacuated from the port on Friday, July 30, were marked for inspection after the Energy Commission raised red flags that they could be containing illegal charcoal.

Though the harvesting, transportation and export of rosewood have been banned since 2013, several investigations have revealed illegal trade of the endangered species still continues.

Mr Jinapor stressed that the Akufo-Addo government is poised to end the long-lasting menace.

He further commended the port officials for working diligently to impound rosewood being harvested and transported illegally.

“I am here to observe for myself and I must quickly admit that I am absolutely satisfied with the work of customs and with the work of port officials in impounding the five containers of rosewood,” he said.

Meanwhile, investigations are being carried out to identify and apprehend the owners of the five containers.

Whereas Rosewood remains a restricted wood species under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Ghana has a responsibility under the Convention to protect these species by controlling their exploitation;

Whereas the Ministry has placed a ban on the harvesting of Rosewood;

Whereas the Ministry has taken notice of the unfortunate practice whereby some unscrupulous individuals, Ghanaians and foreigners alike, who harvest Rosewood illegally, manage to participate in the lawful auction of such confiscated Rosewood by the Forestry Commission, and then disingenuously turn around to export the same Rosewood to the international market;

Whereas the practice as stated in the immediate preceding paragraph, encourages the illicit harvesting, transporting, processing, trading and exporting of Rosewood, in spite of the subsisting ban; and

Whereas the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources (hereinafter called “the Minister”) is desirous of taking appropriate measures to end the operations of these cartels and the illicit trade in Rosewood; 

Now therefore the Minister hereby directs that effective immediately, no Rosewood shall be exported out of Ghana;

The Minister further directs that all confiscated Rosewood, be auctioned ONLY to the domestic market and that no person who acquires Rosewood at such auction shall be permitted to export it outside the country.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Minister also directs the Forestry Commission, to, while the ban remains in force, cease the issuance of CITES permits for the purposes of exporting Rosewood, whether the Rosewood was acquired legally or otherwise.

Signed

Samuel A. Jinapor
Minister for Lands and Natural Resources

The containers were impounded on 17th June 2021 after officials of the Energy Commission raised suspicion they possibly contained illegal charcoal.

Seizure notices were placed on the containers after Energy Commission officials raised red flag making it impossible for the containers to be exported.

When some of the containers were eventually opened about a week later, it was confirmed the logs were rosewood.

The scheduled export was happening at a time when the government had insisted it has banned the harvesting, transportation and export of rosewood as part of efforts to save the endangered species.

Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, said the ban, which was first instituted in 2013, is still in force.

Joy News investigations have repeatedly revealed the illegal trade continues despite the ban.

Investigations by United States-based Environmental Investigation Agency, as well as investigations by Parliament’s Lands and Natural Resources Committee, and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources have confirmed the illegal trade continues despite the ban.

Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr Clement Apaak, who has been a staunch campaigner for an end to the illegal rosewood trade, says he is disappointed the illegal export is still ongoing despite the ban.

Writing on Facebook, he said; “even as the new Minister for Lands and Natural Resources seems poised to lead the effort to green Ghana, the Illegal rosewood trade continues.

“How can Ghana be greened when officials and institutions are directly or indirectly through their complicity de-greening Ghana?

“On Friday 25th June 2021, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Abu Jinapor, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament with a team from his Ministry to answer to infractions made against his Ministry in the Auditor Generals report on MDAs for the year ending December 2017.

“As would be expected, I sort permission from the Chairman of the committee to ask the Minister why after five years of a reinforced ban on the harvesting, transportation and export of rosewood continues.

“Apparently, on the same day, as a trusted source later alerted me, developments at the Tema port confirmed that the outrageous illegal trade was rife in spite of denials by officialdom, as many already know. A number of containers at the Tema port designated for shipment suspected to contain illegal charcoal, turned out to contain rosewood when opened,” he wrote.

Dr Apaak is alleging there is an attempt by influential people in society to cover up. “My sources tell me the manger of the terminal and the exporter tried to prevent Ghana Energy Commission officials from opening the containers by calling ‘big men’ (corrupt, evil nation wrecker in my opinion). Present at the opening of the containers were Customs officials, Energy Commission officials, but interestingly, Forestry Commission officials, who were invited and had promised to show up, failed to be present. Are you surprised?” he quizzed.

“Simply put, the ban on illegal harvesting, transportation and export of rosewood remains a hoax. The same institutions, officials and entities expected to enforce the ban are not only overseeing its violation, but elements therein, are profiting from the destruction of the Savanna Ecological Forest,” Dr Apaak said.

“How can we claim to be greening Ghana when public, government officials and institutions are busy de-greening Ghana for personal gains?” he quizzed.

“In the meantime, I’m following the development closely. As well, I’ve filed a number of questions to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources on the illegal harvesting, transportation and export of rosewood,” he concluded.

Joy News understands a meeting has been scheduled for 10:am Monday morning at the Tema Port office of the Ghana Revenue Authority at which all parties including the exporters will decide on what to do with the containers of rosewood.

A report by the group published in July 2019 titled BAN-BOOZLED: How Corruption and Collusion Fuel Illegal Rosewood Trade in Ghana, revealed the illegal trade had been ongoing despite a ban dating back to 2011.

Efforts by China and Ghana alongside international campaigns to end the illegal trade appear to have contributed to the extreme reduction in exports over the past year, according to EIA.

The organization is urging Ghana to build on the successes chalked thus far and ensure increased protection of the environment going into the future.

“As both countries are easing their lockdowns, and traffickers are looking at opportunities to make a quick profit again, we urge both governments to maintain and increase their efforts to eliminate the illegal rosewood trade and its consequences on livelihoods, fragile habitats, and global climate,” Africa Programme Campaigner at EIA, Kidan Araya told Joy News.

Below is a post published by the EIA on the latest developments in Ghana

As exports and imports worldwide are estimated to be at their lowest levels in four years due to the impact of COVID-19, Ghana, a key epicenter of the rosewood trade in West Africa, is no exception to this trend.

International trade data shows that Ghana’s volume of timber exports are also at a 5 year low, due in part to interruptions in the trade caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

However, a detailed analysis into what lies behind the starkly decreased numbers in Ghana-China rosewood trade data over the past few months indicates that changes in governance and enforcement in the timber sector appear to have strongly contributed as well.

Recent global trade data shows that rosewood exports from Ghana into China dropped by about 90 per cent since July 2019, when the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released a groundbreaking report, How Corruption and Collusion Fuel Illegal Rosewood Trade in Ghana.

In the aftermath of the report, efforts by China and Ghana alongside international campaigns to end the illegal trade appear to have contributed to the extreme reduction in exports over the past year.

As both countries are easing their lockdowns, and traffickers are looking at opportunities to make a quick profit again, we urge both governments to maintain and increase their efforts to eliminate the illegal rosewood trade and its consequences on livelihoods, fragile habitats, and global climate.

EIA ‘s report revealed how despite a comprehensive ban on harvest, transport, and export in place since March 2019, the dry forests and rural communities of Ghana are still the victims of rosewood plundering.

EIA estimated that since 2012, over 540,000 tons of rosewood – the equivalent of 23,478 20-foot containers or approximately 6 million trees – were illegally harvested and imported into China from Ghana while bans on harvest and trade have been in place.

EIA’s investigation documented a massive institutionalized timber trafficking scheme, enabled by high-level corruption and collusion in the forestry sector. As the West African rosewood species has been protected by the Convention on International Trade in Wild Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 2017, the illegal trade also raised serious questions about Ghana’s implementation of the international convention.

A series of important events have happened since EIA’s report was released: Ghanaian citizens and civil society, following on their long-lasting campaigns against forest destruction, expressed outrage at the illegalities taking place, while media around the world and in Ghana covered the investigation extensively and demanded answers.

In response, Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources created the Committee to Investigate Allegations of Corruption in Rosewood Trade in Ghana at the end of August 2019.

In December 2019, Rainforest Rescue launched a petition demanding the European Commission to place pressure on Ghana to enforce timber legality and end the illegal rosewood trade, which gathered over 138,000 signatures from concerned citizens worldwide.

EIA launched Rosewood Revealed, a web tool created to enable Ghanaian citizens to know the quantity and value of illegal rosewood imported into China from Ghana every month.

As demonstrated in the graph, Ghana’s exports of rosewood have been reduced to only a fraction of what they were a year ago. Approximately 1.8 million kilograms of rosewood (valued at around $1.5 million) from Ghana entered China in May 2020, whereas Ghana’s rosewood imports to China were valued around $20 million per month around the same period in 2019.

This is very positive news; yet with a national ban that covers harvest, transport, and export of the timber, the trade should be close to zero.

In Ghana, civil society and journalists for several years rang the alarm on the illegal trade and were relentless in keeping the issue alive in public debate.

In addition, according to the information collected by EIA investigators, the reduction in illegal exports was also driven by Chinese authorities increasing oversight and enforcement of CITES rules.

EIA investigators were informed that in late 2019 Chinese authorities carried out a series of operations that led to the arrest of many traders and importers involved in the West African rosewood business.

Because of the frequent use of invalid and forged CITES permits, authorities in China have multiplied monitoring efforts for examining CITES documents that are presented for the import of rosewood from West Africa and in particular Ghana.

However, more needs to be done in order to stop the rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus) traffic between West Africa and Asia, in particular China, the largest importer of this species in the world.

Article 65 of the new Chinese Forest Law provides an important new opportunity for China to stop illegal timber from entering the country and to ensure that those involved in the illicit trade are held accountable.

Rosewood trafficking in Ghana is a major governance issue and reflects the lack of enforcement of environmental laws. Ghana possesses the authority to stop the illegal rosewood trade almost instantly by establishing a zero export quota for the species under CITES and giving notice to all CITES Parties, including China, who would have the obligation under the Convention to stop any shipment reaching their shores.

In the coming months, Ghana is set to become the first African nation and the second country in the world to issue Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) timber licenses under its Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU).

The country can utilize the opportunity to further progress in ending the illegal rosewood trade by ensuring that rosewood (Pterocarpus Erinaceus) is brought into the FLEGT system’s timber legality standards.

Yet in the midst of this progress and opportunity, there have been reports of environmental defenders receiving threats of physical violence due to speaking up against the trade, and even Ghana’s own Minister of Lands and Natural Resources had his car damaged by rosewood traffickers after chasing them in his vehicle.

With the recent establishment of The Savannah Regional Coordinating Council, a council of traditional leaders and civil society aiming to preserve forests in northern Ghana against illegal logging, the government should amplify and support these local initiatives in implementing on the ground monitoring to protect communities from illegal deforestation to counter these trends.

Ghana just announced that the country considers “COVID-19 to be a wakeup call” in adapting to climate change and is embarking on a three year plan to build resilience. A key indicator of Ghana’s ability to adapt to climate change will be its ability to end the illegal plunder of its precious dry forests, as these forests are a major absorber of carbon emissions and help to regulate ecosystems.

Even as progress is made to reduce the illegal rosewood trade, reports from the field highlight that some traffickers are taking advantage of decreased enforcement presence in the forests during the Covid-19 pandemic to cut down rosewood unabatedly, with anticipation that ports and trade will open up soon between Ghana and China.

If Ghana is serious about ending illegal deforestation and adapting to climate change, and if China is committed to enforcing timber legality, now is the time where the two countries have a unique opportunity to stop these trafficking plans in the making and end the continued cycles of destruction.

The comment of Mr Asomah-Cheremeh follows a revelation by Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie that his outfit, as part of measures to curtail the trade of rosewood, has decided to burn all confiscated rosewoods.

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 However, speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Mr Asomah-Cheremeh said no such decision had being taken.

“There has not been any decision to burn seized rosewoods and even if it is the decision of the Commission, they cannot do it without the permission of the Ministry,” he said.

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He said “we are currently tracking all the confiscated rosewoods and very soon we will find a purpose for them.”

Source: Adomonline.com | Gertrude Otchere

“You can’t have the same entities to investigate themselves over allegations made against them. It will simply not give room for a thorough, honest and proper investigation and that is my biggest worry,” he said.

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To Dr Apaak, though he believes the report will be ready within the proposed time frame, he thinks the committee members should have been neutral people.

“In five weeks, we expect to see the report but within that period, we will continue to monitor, advocate and draw attention on such illegalities.

“That is why I would have thought that in all honesty, the committee should have been formed outside of all the entities and ministries that have been implicated as far as the Environmental Investigations Agency’s (EIA) report is concerned,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, monitored by Adomonline.com.

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Government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has inaugurated a seven-member committee to be led by Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural resources, Benito Owusu-Bio to investigate the findings of the US-based Agency’s (EIA) publication that reported that rosewood smuggling in Ghana was ongoing despite the ban.

Source: Adomonline.com | Gertrude Otchere

Chinese national, Helena Huang, who jumped bail after her arrest for smuggling four containers of Rosewood from Tamale, was on Tuesday re-arrested and sent to court.

Reports by Adom News indicated that the court, presided over by Justice Twumasi Appiah, acquitted and handed the ‘Rosewood Queen‘ over to the Immigration Service for further action after it emerged that no formal charges had been brought against her.

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Helena Huang appeared in court together with the person who stood surety for her, Mohammed Bondirigbun.

In an interview with Adom News, Mr Bondirigbun explained that he bailed Helena after his friend, whose truck was part of the vehicles confiscated by the police, called him for help.

“I have never stepped in cells but slept in one because of this case. People are talking in town that Helena bribed me but she has never given me even GH¢1 before.

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“I had to pray continuously for her return and had a call from her on Sunday to tell me she is back in town and will appear but I think this is a big lesson to me,” he narrated.

Ms Huang was arrested by Police in Tamale for allegedly attempting to smuggle four containers of Rosewood after she failed to produce her passport and other documents to show that she legally acquired the products.

Listen to audio above:

Source: Adomonline.com | Adom News