By Jennifer Frimpong Wiredu
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has joined the nationwide clean-up exercise declared by President John Dramani Mahama, with members across the country participating in efforts to improve environmental sanitation and help prevent flooding.
At the Hanson Road Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Ashiedu Keteke Municipality of Accra, pastors, church members, students and workers desilted drains and cleared refuse as part of the exercise.
President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Southwest Ghana Union Conference, Pastor Kwakye Adeefe, said the Church responded to the President’s call because environmental cleanliness is both a civic and Christian responsibility.
“We are doing this to make sure that we clean the environment because we believe that cleanliness is next to godliness. We don’t joke with environmental cleanliness at all,” he said.
Pastor Adeefe appealed to the relevant authorities to institutionalise regular community clean-up exercises and urged residents not to wait for government before keeping their surroundings clean.
“Let us in our own ways also participate by cleaning our areas and making sure our communities remain clean. Together we can build a clean society and become healthy individuals,” he added.
The District Pastor of the Hanson Road Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pastor Samuel Emmanuel Thompson, said the church regularly undertakes clean-up exercises as part of its Christian mission and welcomed the government’s initiative.
“We don’t do this because government sanctioned it. We do it regularly whenever we see the place becoming filthy. We also want our students to understand the importance of keeping the environment clean so they can live healthy lives,” he said.
He further appealed for the exercise to become a regular national activity rather than a one-off intervention.
General Manager of Advent Press, Pastor Dr. Kingsley Osei, described the nationwide clean-up exercise as a commendable initiative and reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to environmental sanitation.
“The initiative of the government is very good. We have been doing this every last Sunday of the month, so when this call came, we gladly joined it so that together we can help keep the nation clean,” he said.
Pastor Dr. Osei also appealed to government to reconstruct a damaged drain in front of the Advent Press premises to improve drainage and reduce flooding in the area.