By Justice Bayon Marfu, former General Secretary, Sisaala Development Network (SiDNet)
During his engagements in the Upper West, the President has shared light-hearted moments with his Sisaala playmates, drawing on the long-standing Gonja-Sisaala tradition of playful banter and camaraderie. At Sampollu (Nabulo) in October 2024, for instance, he jokingly recalled how Sisaala people attended his uncle’s funeral and “chopped” a whole bull. In jest, he said he was waiting for the death of a Sisaala man so that he too could attend the funeral, chop a bull and demand his own in return. He even remarked that, being in Nabulo, in Sisaalaland, he felt as though he were in his own Gonjaland, with the heavily attended crowd largely Sisaala. The Sampollu experience made his playmates feel good and reassured. Such jokes are refreshing. They remind us of the special bond among our historic “playmate” communities, particularly the Gonja, Sisaala, Kasena and Zabarima.
However, refreshing as it is to have a President engage in such playful jokes with his playmates, I would rather we be measured in how we celebrate the charcoal aspect of the joke. There is nothing to be proud of in the haphazard and unbridled felling of trees for charcoal in an area with such fragile vegetation and a landscape increasingly predisposed to desertification.
In parts of the Sisaala area, charcoal burning has become widespread, with some people even felling valuable economic trees. Shea trees are not spared; they are felled, chopped and turned into charcoal. The images and reports of shea trees being felled and burnt for charcoal are a painful illustration of the environmental challenge we face.
In my own Sampollu village, the canker is at its height. With the response from the Forestry Commission seemingly inadequate to contain the problem, opinion leaders are stepping in and making frantic efforts to stop it. There is, however, an urgent need for stronger measures to discourage the indiscriminate production of charcoal and, consequently, the felling of trees, particularly Suomu (shea) and Kuoloho, for charcoal production.
We therefore cannot express ecstasy simply because the President has mentioned that we are noted for charcoal burning when we know that the practice, when done unsustainably, contributes to the destruction of the very environment on which our livelihoods depend.
The President should also know that many of our people are working hard to exit charcoal production altogether—or at least to make it more sustainable—because our children also dream of “wearing a white shirt” one day. If a tree must be felled for charcoal, then we should adopt a simple principle: fell one, plant one and nurture the replacement. Better still, where sustainable alternatives exist, we should gradually move away from the activity.
The experience of the Gonja Traditional Area should provide an important lesson. Following extensive rosewood exploitation and other environmentally damaging activities, restrictions were imposed on charcoal production. The situation became so difficult that the Wa Traditional Area reportedly had to engage the Bole Chief over impounded charcoal destined for southern markets. That experience should remind us that environmental degradation eventually catches up with everyone.
Rather than glorifying charcoal burning, we should leverage this rare joke and the special relationship behind it to promote sustainable livelihoods and value chains around cotton, shea, maize, soybean and tree crops, among others, in which the area has considerable comparative advantage. That is the beauty of the playmate relationship: a bond so deep that one can joke about eating each other’s bulls while feeling completely at home in each other’s land. That special feeling and historical camaraderie are worth celebrating. But let us not confuse the beauty of the relationship with the destruction of our environment. Destroying a shea tree to make charcoal is, in effect, burning the hen that lays the golden egg. We can celebrate our history, our friendships and our ingenuity without celebrating the destruction of our environment. Let us preserve the relationship between our peoples while repairing our relationship with the land.