The Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has called on Ghanaians to respect nature by taking appropriate measures to preserve their environment.

Respect for nature, he said, means protecting water bodies and other natural resources, sweeping and collecting rubbish, not using gutters as refuse dumps, and maintaining good sanitation, etc.

He said, just as the country is governed by the rule of law and is respected, the laws governing the use of environment must also be observed. This, he said would put the environment in a better state for a healthier living.

The Okyehene made this call at his palace in Kyebi on Monday, when Nana Ama Odame Okyere, Eastern Region representative in the 2014 Ghana's Most Beautiful show, together with the management of Samara Company Limited, producers of Sasso Insecticide Spray and Coil, paid a courtesy call to his palace.

The group had gone to the Okyehene’s Palace to donate items to the Okyeman Environment Foundation to support its operations. The items which included 2,000 copies of branded exercise books; cartons of Sasso Insecticide Spray and a cash donation were made to the foundation. 

The Okyehene said, river bodies and other natural resources are national assets which belong to Ghanaians, and therefore all must endeavour to play his or her role to preserve them.

He decried the state of the Odaw River in Accra which got flooded during a downpour on June 3, 2015 and caused great loss of lives and property, saying: if the Odaw River was recognized as a personal or national belonging, if would not be in such a bad state to cause damages.

"Imagine if Odaw had a personal owner, that owner would do everything he has to do to protect it; such that people would not be allowed to throw all kinds of waste materials into it. But in this case, the Odaw River is for us all, if it is well catered for, it is for the good of the people," he counselled.

Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin lauded Samara Company Limited for extending its support to the Okyeman Environment Foundation, saying more of such support is required in pursuit of a healthy environment.

He lamented that the environment has been abused, which also means abusing God's property given us to be used wisely, but unfortunately, has been greatly abused by human activities.

"If we continue to do things the way we are doing now which put nature in bad state, a time will come when even oxygen to breathe and food to eat will become a problem," he admonished.

A board member of Samara Company Limited, Nana Dr. Appiagyei Dankawoso I, who made the presentation on behalf of Samara Group, acknowledge the effectiveness of the Okyeman Environment Foundation, and said it was in that regard that Samara Group decided to support its operations.

Nana Dankawoso I disclosed that Samara Company Limited will soon deliver 50,000 branded exercise books with the Okyehene’s picture embossed on them for distribution to school children.

The occasion was the climax of a books distribution exercise carried out in the Eastern Region, in which Over 5,000 pupils received free exercise books.

Beneficiary towns included Somanya, Yilo Krobo, Manya Krobo, Akropong, Aburi, Tutu, Mamfe, Kwahu and Nkawkaw.

Marketing Manager of Samara Company Limited, Mr. Sedrick Ologo Nartey, said so far, a total of 90,000 branded exercise books have been given to pupils in nine out of the 10 regions. The remaining region, Greater Accra pupils will receive their books in the coming weeks.