His Worship the Mayor of Bo City, Kobba Musa, delivered a passionate call to action to mayors and city stakeholders from across Africa, emphasizing the urgent need to protect their environments from the threats of climate change and environmental hazards.
Mayor Musa’s remarks came during his opening speech at the City-to-City exchange held in Cape Coast, Ghana on October 18, 2023, in the presence of distinguished figures, including Mayor of Cape Coast, Ernest Arthur, and Town Chief, Nana Kwesi, alongside officials from ICLEI Africa.
Mayor Musa underscored the collective responsibility of city leaders and stakeholders to safeguard their natural surroundings.
He stressed that, as stewards of their respective communities, they bear the responsibility of preserving the environment in the most effective ways possible.
The City-to-City exchange, taking place from October 18 to 20, 2023, in Cape Coast, Ghana, is a part of ICLEI Africa’s Urban Natural Assets for Africa (UNA) program, which Bo City has been benefiting from since 2021. UNA focuses on creating resilient and adaptable cities, empowering communities to shape their own future, and driving transformative change.
Over the years, Bo City, in collaboration with the UNA team at ICLEI Africa, has been exploring innovative ways to plan for the future and manage finances to ensure the effective preservation of the environment.
In his address, Mayor Musa Kobba highlighted Bo City’s abundant biodiversity, with valuable natural assets such as wetlands, rivers, and trees, which are integral to the well-being of the city’s residents. He expressed concern that these vital resources are facing significant degradation due to unsustainable human activities.
Mayor Musa outlined various initiatives by the Bo City Council, including regular clean-up efforts, canalization projects, and the implementation of laws and policies to combat illegal waste dumping. Despite these efforts, he acknowledged the ongoing challenges and called upon other cities benefiting from the UNA project to collaborate in addressing these issues and protecting their respective environments.
Mayor Musa concluded his speech with a humble request for twinning or partnership opportunities with sister cities, specifically mentioning Bonn and Cape Coast. This call for cooperation aims to strengthen the collective commitment to addressing the challenges that cities face in protecting their natural assets.
During the week-long event in Ghana, Bo City Council’s Environmental and Social Officer, Juliana Bah, presented the state of Bo City’s natural assets, outlined the Council’s ongoing interventions and challenges, and shared a roadmap for intensifying the preservation of the city’s natural resources for the present and the future.
