Ghana’s economic and human development is vulnerable to climate change.
On average, flooding affects around 45,000 Ghanaians every year, and half of Ghana’s coastline is vulnerable to erosion and flooding as a result of sea-level rise.
The Obuasi Municipal Assembly believes that fighting climate change involves an all-hands on deck approach.
The Assembly recognises Unit Committee members as key stakeholders in its effort to mitigate the effects of climate change.
In view of this, it has rolled out a 4-day capacity building workshop on climate change for all Unit Committee members of the two zonal councils in the Municipality.
The rationale behind the workshop as eloquently described by the Municipal Chief Executive, Elijah Adansi-Bonah, was to equip them with basic skills and knowledge on how to mitigate the effects of climate change at the community level.
He said, “The Assembly recognises the role Unit committee members play since they are in touch with the people at the community level so we decided to train them on issues of climate change so that they will help the Assembly fight it at the base.”
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, MCE Adansi-Bonah underscored the importance of the decentralization system and the role the Zonal councils and the Unit committees play in mobilising revenue for the Assembly.
The Obuasi Municipal Assembly so far has two Zonal councils;: the Anyinam- Kunka and Central Zonal councils.
The MCE charged them to double their efforts in collecting revenue for the Assembly.
The Chief Development Planning officer of the Assembly, Joseph Asibi Bashir, said the Assembly in its resolve to strengthen the sub-structures, reconstituted the Zonal councils in 2020.
This was done to empower them to perform their roles and functions as stipulated in LI 1967.
He said the workshop which hinges on resilience was to train Unit committee members to appreciate the effects of climate change and their role in urban resilience.
“Whiles the Assembly makes efforts to restructure the Unit committee system, we are also equipping them with tools needed to fight climate change in Obuasi.”
With the support from the Secondary Cities Support Program, under the capacity support grant component, the capacity building workshop is expected to prepare them adequately to fight the effects of climate change judging from the devastating effects of flood and other natural disasters in Obuasi in recent time, he added.
The Assembly after the first set of training for the Kunka-Anyinam Zonal council declared the Unit Commiitee of Nyameso-Bidiem as the Best Performing committee.
This was based on the number of minutes available for their meetings as well as having organized the highest number of community clean up exercises within the year.
This award, the Chief Development Planning officer believed, will boost their morale to work harder.