RESOLUTIONS OF THE JIRAPA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL ON NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION, BUSH FIRE PREVENTION, FOOD HYGIENE AND SANITATION.

PREAMBLE
WHEREAS the Jirapa Traditional Council recognises that the natural resources of the Jirapa Municipality are an inheritance from our ancestors and a trust for generations yet unborn;
WHEREAS trees and their fruits provide food, income, employment, medicine, livestock resources, environmental protection and other essential benefits to our people;
WHEREAS dawadawa and shea trees and their fruits are among the most important indigenous economic resources of our communities, and their collection and processing are a major source
of livelihood for women;
WHEREAS indiscriminate felling of commercial trees for charcoal production and the premature harvesting of fruits threaten the regeneration and long-term sustainability of these
resources;
WHEREAS indiscriminate and uncontrolled bush burning, especially in the dry season, destroys farms, trees, wildlife, property and livelihoods;
WHEREAS there is concern about an increase in typhoid and other food-borne and sanitationrelated diseases in the Municipality, and many households lack a suitable latrine;
WHEREAS the Traditional Council has a responsibility to promote responsible stewardship of natural resources and the wellbeing of the people of the Jirapa Traditional Area, working with
the Jirapa Municipal Assembly and other competent statutory authorities;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL HOUSE OF THE JIRAPA
TRADITIONAL COUNCIL AS FOLLOWS:

1. Definitions
   In these resolutions, unless the context otherwise requires:

• “Bong-ngo Festival” means the annual Bong-ngo Festival celebrated in the Jirapa
  Traditional Area, on the date announced under Section 16.
• “commercial charcoal production” means producing charcoal for sale, barter or
  supply to another person, other than a small quantity produced from dead wood for the
  producer’s own household use.
• “commercial scale” means felling, harvesting, producing or transporting in a quantity clearly beyond household use.
• “commercial trees” means dawadawa trees, shea trees and other indigenous trees
  whose fruits, leaves, bark or other products are customarily harvested for food, medicine, income or trade, including baobab and such other species as the Council may designate by recorded decision.
• “competent statutory authority” means any public body empowered by the laws of
  Ghana to act on the matter concerned, including the Jirapa Municipal Assembly and its departments, the Forestry Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
  Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ghana National Fire Service, the National Disaster
  Management Organisation, the Ghana Police Service and the Food and Drugs Authority.
• “dawadawa tree” means the African locust bean tree (Parkia biglobosa).
• “formal warning” means a caution issued and recorded by a traditional authority under Section 10.
• “healthy tree” means a living tree that is not dead, dying, or confirmed by a competent statutory authority or the relevant traditional authority to be diseased or dangerous.
• “indiscriminate felling” means felling a commercial tree (a) without the permission
  required by Section 7; (b) in a number or manner that prevents natural regeneration,
  including the clearing of all commercial trees from an area; or (c) for commercial charcoal production.
• “landlord” means the owner of a residential building, or the person who manages or
  collects rent for it on the owner’s behalf; for a family house, the head of the family or the person the family has designated.
• “premature harvesting” means, for dawadawa, harvesting pods before the Bong-ngo Festival, or before the pods have ripened to their dark-brown colour; and for shea, picking fruits from the tree, or knocking or shaking them down, instead of gathering fruits that have fallen naturally.
• “suitable household latrine” means a latrine that meets the standards set by the Jirapa Municipal Assembly and the applicable sanitation and building requirements.
• “traditional authority” means the Jirapa Traditional Council, a Divisional Chief, a SubDivisional Chief or a Sub-Chief, acting within their customary jurisdiction.

2. Prohibition of Commercial Tree Felling for Charcoal
   There shall be a year-round prohibition on the indiscriminate felling of commercial trees for commercial charcoal production within the Jirapa Municipality.
   Particular protection shall be given to dawadawa and shea trees.
   No person shall use customary authority, land ownership or community affiliation to justify indiscriminate felling contrary to these resolutions or the law.
3. Protection of Dawadawa and Shea Trees
   Dawadawa and shea trees are recognised as priority indigenous economic trees requiring special protection.
   No person shall deliberately destroy, uproot, burn or fell a healthy dawadawa or shea tree, except with permission granted under Section 7 and any authorisation required by law.
4. Ban on Premature Harvesting
   The premature harvesting of the fruits of commercial trees is prohibited.

No person shall beat, shake, cut, break or otherwise damage a tree to force the premature release or harvesting of its fruits.
5. Dawadawa Harvesting from Bong-ngo
No person shall harvest dawadawa fruits before the Bong-ngo Festival has been celebrated, unless
the Council decides otherwise under Section 16.
This restriction allows the fruits to mature naturally and protects the long-term productivity of dawadawa trees.
6. Shea Fruits
Shea fruits shall be gathered only after they have fallen naturally from the tree.
Communities shall discourage premature harvesting and any practice that damages shea trees or reduces their future productivity.
7. Permission Required Before Felling Shea or Dawadawa Trees Any person proposing to fell a shea or dawadawa tree within the Jirapa Municipality, for any purpose including land clearing, farming or building, must first obtain written permission from the Jirapa Traditional Council.
A request shall be made through the Divisional Chief of the area concerned, who shall consult the relevant Sub-Divisional Chief or Sub-Chief and forward the request with a recommendation to the Registrar of the Council.
In deciding a request, the Council shall consider whether the tree is healthy, whether there is a reasonable alternative to felling, and whether the applicant will plant replacement trees. The
Council shall decide within 30 days of receiving the request and record its decision, with any conditions, in writing.
Permission from the Council does not replace any permit, approval or authorisation required by
the laws of Ghana or by a competent statutory authority. No tree shall be felled where national law prohibits it.
8. Enforcement Structure
To ensure that these resolutions do not remain merely a declaration, the following enforcement structure is established:
A. Traditional Council level. The Council shall provide overall policy direction, coordination and periodic review of compliance, and shall hear matters referred to it under Section 11.
B. Divisional level. Each Divisional Chief shall promote compliance within the relevant traditional jurisdiction, receive and record reports of alleged violations, and hear matters at first instance where appropriate.

C. Sub-Divisional and community level. Sub-Divisional Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs, elders and recognised community leadership structures shall assist in monitoring compliance and educating
their subjects.
D. Community reporting. Every resident is encouraged to report suspected violations to the appropriate traditional authority. No person shall take the law into their own hands, confront alleged offenders violently or confiscate property without lawful authority.
E. Statutory enforcement. Where conduct may be an offence under Ghanaian law, the matter shall be referred to the appropriate competent statutory authority.
9. Violations
For the purposes of these resolutions, the following are violations:

1. Indiscriminately felling commercial trees, including felling for commercial charcoal
   production.
2. Felling a shea or dawadawa tree without the permission required by Section 7, or contrary to the conditions of that permission.
3. Harvesting dawadawa fruits before the Bong-ngo Festival, or otherwise prematurely.
4. Prematurely harvesting shea fruits.
5. Deliberately beating, cutting, shaking, burning or otherwise damaging a tree to force premature fruit harvesting.
6. Organising, financing, facilitating or knowingly transporting fruits, charcoal or timber
   obtained in violation of these resolutions.
7. Obstructing or threatening any person lawfully carrying out monitoring or reporting duties.
   A violation committed after a formal warning for the same kind of conduct shall be treated as a
   repeated violation under Section 10.
8. Customary Measures
   A person found responsible for a violation, following the process in Section 11, may be subject to the following customary measures within the lawful jurisdiction of the traditional authority
   concerned:
   First violation

• formal warning and education;
• recording of the violation;
• direction to stop the offending activity immediately; and
• where appropriate, restoration under Section 13.
  Second violation
• formal summons before the appropriate traditional authority;
• a customary undertaking not to repeat the violation;
• community-based restorative measures where appropriate; and
  C. Sub-Divisional and community level. Sub-Divisional Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs, elders and
  recognised community leadership structures shall assist in monitoring compliance and educating
  their subjects.
  D. Community reporting. Every resident is encouraged to report suspected violations to the appropriate traditional authority. No person shall take the law into their own hands, confront alleged offenders violently or confiscate property without lawful authority.
  E. Statutory enforcement. Where conduct may be an offence under Ghanaian law, the matter shall be referred to the appropriate competent statutory authority.

9. Violations
   For the purposes of these resolutions, the following are violations:
10. Indiscriminately felling commercial trees, including felling for commercial charcoal
    production.
11. Felling a shea or dawadawa tree without the permission required by Section 7, or contrary to the conditions of that permission.
12. Harvesting dawadawa fruits before the Bong-ngo Festival, or otherwise prematurely.
13. Prematurely harvesting shea fruits.
14. Deliberately beating, cutting, shaking, burning or otherwise damaging a tree to force premature fruit harvesting.
15. Organising, financing, facilitating or knowingly transporting fruits, charcoal or timber obtained in violation of these resolutions.
16. Obstructing or threatening any person lawfully carrying out monitoring or reporting duties.
    A violation committed after a formal warning for the same kind of conduct shall be treated as a
    repeated violation under Section 10.
17. Customary Measures
    A person found responsible for a violation, following the process in Section 11, may be subject to the following customary measures within the lawful jurisdiction of the traditional authority
    concerned:
    First violation

• formal warning and education;
• recording of the violation;
• direction to stop the offending activity immediately; and
• where appropriate, restoration under Section 13.
  Second violation
• formal summons before the appropriate traditional authority;
• a customary undertaking not to repeat the violation;
• community-based restorative measures where appropriate; and
  C. Sub-Divisional and community level. Sub-Divisional Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs, elders and recognised community leadership structures shall assist in monitoring compliance and educating
  their subjects.
  D. Community reporting. Every resident is encouraged to report suspected violations to the appropriate traditional authority. No person shall take the law into their own hands, confront
  alleged offenders violently or confiscate property without lawful authority.
  E. Statutory enforcement. Where conduct may be an offence under Ghanaian law, the matter shall be referred to the appropriate competent statutory authority.

9. Violations
   For the purposes of these resolutions, the following are violations:
10. Indiscriminately felling commercial trees, including felling for commercial charcoal
    production.
11. Felling a shea or dawadawa tree without the permission required by Section 7, or contrary
    to the conditions of that permission.
12. Harvesting dawadawa fruits before the Bong-ngo Festival, or otherwise prematurely.
13. Prematurely harvesting shea fruits.
14. Deliberately beating, cutting, shaking, burning or otherwise damaging a tree to force premature fruit harvesting.
15. Organising, financing, facilitating or knowingly transporting fruits, charcoal or timber obtained in violation of these resolutions.
16. Obstructing or threatening any person lawfully carrying out monitoring or reporting duties.
    A violation committed after a formal warning for the same kind of conduct shall be treated as a repeated violation under Section 10.
17. Customary Measures
    A person found responsible for a violation, following the process in Section 11, may be subject to the following customary measures within the lawful jurisdiction of the traditional authority
    concerned:
    First violation

• formal warning and education;
• recording of the violation;
• direction to stop the offending activity immediately; and
• where appropriate, restoration under Section 13.
  Second violation
• formal summons before the appropriate traditional authority;
• a customary undertaking not to repeat the violation;
• community-based restorative measures where appropriate; and
  referral to the competent statutory authority where conduct may be an offence under
  national law.
  Repeated or serious violation
  The matter may be referred to by the Traditional Council and/or the competent statutory authority for further action.
  The Council shall treat as a serious conservation concern, and pursue appropriate lawful action
  on any violation involving commercial-scale destruction, organised charcoal production,
  deliberate destruction of dawadawa or shea resources, or repeated non-compliance.

11. Hearings, Records and Appeals
    Before any customary measure is applied, the person concerned shall be told of the alleged violation and given a fair opportunity to respond.
    Every report, hearing and decision shall be recorded in writing, and a copy of each decision shall be sent to the Registrar of the Council.
    A person dissatisfied with a decision of a Divisional or lower traditional authority may ask the Traditional Council to review it within 14 days. The Council’s decision on review shall be final
    for customary purposes, without prejudice to any right the person has under the laws of Ghana.
12. No Unlawful Confiscation or Self-Help
    No chief, elder, youth group or individual shall impose physical punishment, unlawfully seize property, assault an alleged offender or otherwise take the law into their own hands.
    Any seizure, detention, prosecution or other statutory enforcement action shall be undertaken only by an authority legally empowered to do so.
13. Restoration and Community Service
    Where appropriate and lawful, a person responsible for damaging natural resources may be required by the competent traditional authority to undertake restorative measures, including:

• planting and caring for replacement indigenous trees, at a ratio of 10 per cent trees for each tree destroyed;
• participating in community tree-care activities;
• supporting approved community conservation initiatives; or
• other lawful restorative measures determined through the process in Section 11.
  The objective shall be restoration and deterrence, not revenge.

14. Commercial Operators
    Any person or business engaged in charcoal production, fruit aggregation, timber-related activity or other commercial exploitation of commercial trees shall comply with these resolutions and all
    applicable national laws.

Traditional authorities shall not authorise activities prohibited by national law. Where statutory
permits are required, operators shall be directed to obtain them from the competent statutory authority.
15. Dawadawa and Shea Conservation Register
The Registrar of the Council shall establish and keep a Dawadawa and Shea Conservation Register
documenting:

• major producing communities;
• areas with significant dawadawa and shea populations;
• permissions granted or refused under Section 7;
• reported violations and the decisions made on them;
• community conservation initiatives and tree-planting activities; and
• annual observations on fruit production and harvesting.
  The Registrar shall present the first report from the Register to the Council, and a report each year before the review under Section 16. The Register shall help the Council make evidencebased decisions in later years.

16. Annual Review and Announcement of the Harvest Period
    The Council shall review the dawadawa harvesting restriction each year before the Bong-ngo
    Festival.
    In that review the Council shall consult the relevant traditional authorities, farmers, women involved in collection and processing, traders, environmental stakeholders and competent
    statutory authorities, and decide whether any change is needed.
    The Council shall announce the date of the Bong-ngo Festival, and so the opening of the dawadawa harvest, at least 14 days in advance through the channels in Section 22.
    Unless the Council decides otherwise by a properly recorded decision following this review, the restriction on harvesting dawadawa fruits shall remain in force until the Bong-ngo Festival has
    been celebrated.
17. Livelihoods and Women’s Participation
    The Council recognises that many people depend on charcoal production and on the collection and processing of dawadawa and shea for their livelihoods, and that women carry much of this
    work.
    The Council shall work with the Jirapa Municipal Assembly, government agencies, development partners and non-governmental organisations to promote lawful and sustainable alternatives,
    including woodlots and fuelwood plantations, improved cookstoves, tree nurseries, and support for shea and dawadawa processing and marketing.
    Women involved in collecting and processing dawadawa and shea shall be represented in community monitoring and education activities and consulted in the annual review under Section

Prevention and Control of Indiscriminate Bush Burning Indiscriminate and uncontrolled bush burning within the Jirapa Municipality is strongly
discouraged and shall be subject to prevention, monitoring and lawful enforcement.
Chiefs, community leaders, residents, farmers, hunters and other relevant groups shall support public education on the dangers of bush fires, including the destruction of farms, trees, wildlife,
property and livelihoods.
Divisional Chiefs, Sub-Divisional Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs and community leaders shall work with the competent statutory authorities to organise regular education campaigns, especially before and
during the dry season, and to promote responsible land-clearing and fire-prevention practices.
Any person suspected of causing, or negligently allowing, an unlawful bush fire shall be reported to the appropriate traditional and statutory authorities. Following the process in Section 11, the
customary measures in Sections 10 and 13 may apply. Offences under national law shall be referred to by the competent statutory authorities for investigation and sanction. Section 12
applies.
19. Food Hygiene and Public Health
In view of the increase in typhoid and other food-borne diseases in the Municipality, food hygiene and sanitation shall be tightened. Food vendors, caterers, market operators, food processors and
all persons who prepare, handle, store or sell food shall comply with the applicable food-safety, hygiene and public-health requirements.
The Council calls on the departments and agencies responsible for environmental health, public health, food safety and local government to intensify inspections, public education and monitoring,
and to enforce all applicable directives and regulations without fear or favour. Traditional authorities shall support this work in their communities.
20. Household Latrines: Grace Period and Enforcement
The Council calls on every landlord within the Jirapa Municipality to construct and provide a suitable household latrine within a grace period of six (6) months, from 1 December 2026 to 31
May 2027. Landlords are encouraged to begin the work promptly and to seek guidance from the relevant departments of the Jirapa Municipal Assembly.
The Council calls on the Jirapa Municipal Assembly and the relevant agencies to:

• publicise this requirement and give guidance on latrine standards during the grace period;
• consider support for landlords unable to meet the cost, and arrangements for shared or compound houses; and
• from 1 June 2027, enforce the applicable sanitation directives against landlords who have not complied, without fear or favour and following due process.
  Traditional authorities shall support publicity and compliance in their communities.
  Request to the Jirapa Municipal Assembly
  The Council requests the Jirapa Municipal Assembly to consider making or enforcing by-laws that give legal effect to the objectives of these resolutions, including on the felling of dawadawa and
  shea trees, commercial charcoal production, premature harvesting, bush fire prevention, food hygiene and household latrines.
  The Council shall send a copy of these resolutions to the Assembly and designated name or office to coordinate with it.

22. Public Notice
    These resolutions shall be communicated through:

• Divisional Chiefs;
• Sub-Divisional Chiefs;
• Sub-Chiefs;
• community meetings;
• public announcements;
• local information centres;
• relevant farmer, women’s and youth groups; and
• other appropriate channels, including local radio.
  The objective is to ensure that ignorance of these resolutions does not become an excuse for
  non-compliance.

23. Savings
    These resolutions apply subject to the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Ghana and the mandates of competent statutory authorities. Nothing in them authorises any traditional
    authority to impose a criminal penalty, or to take any action that only a competent statutory authority may lawfully take.
24. Effective Date
    These resolutions shall take effect on 8 October 2026, the date of their adoption by the General House of the Jirapa Traditional Council. Section 20 shall apply according to the dates set out in
    it.
    Presidential Declaration on Enforcement
    Namine and Pognamine,
    A resolution without implementation is merely a statement. As we adopt these resolutions today, we must be prepared to stand behind them. But enforcement must be firm, fair and lawful.
    We are not establishing a system of intimidation. We are establishing a system of responsibility.
    I therefore call upon every chief to take this matter seriously. If a person is found destroying our commercial trees for charcoal, the appropriate traditional authority must act. If someone harvests
    dawadawa prematurely before Bong-ngo, the matter must be reported. If someone deliberately destroys shea trees or harvests their fruits irresponsibly, the matter must not simply be ignored.
    At the same time, nobody should take the law into their own hands. We will not replace one form of disorder with another. Our enforcement must be disciplined. Our processes must be fair. Our decisions must be documented. And where national law applies, we will cooperate with
    the competent state institutions.
    Let me make one point particularly clear: this is not a war against charcoal producers. Many people depend on charcoal for their livelihood. The issue before us is indiscriminate and commercially destructive felling of trees that threatens the resource base itself. We must protect
    the trees while working with government and relevant stakeholders to promote lawful and sustainable livelihoods.
    Likewise, this is not a war against farmers or fruit harvesters. It is a call for responsible harvesting.
    We want our people to harvest. But we want them to harvest today without destroying what they need tomorrow.
    And when it comes to dawadawa, our position should be particularly clear. Let the fruits mature.
    Let them remain on the trees until the appropriate time. Let Bong-ngo mark the beginning of the
    annual harvesting period unless this House lawfully decides otherwise. Because if we destroy the resource today, no resolution tomorrow will bring it back.
    The same resolve must guide us in preventing uncontrolled bush burning, protecting public health
    through proper food hygiene, and ensuring that every household has access to a suitable latrine.
    Education must come first, but where directives are ignored, the competent authorities must apply the lawful sanctions firmly, fairly and without fear or favour.
    Let it also be clear that no shea or dawadawa tree is to be cut down without prior written permission from the Jirapa Traditional Council, in addition to any approvals required by law.
    Our message is simple:
    Protect the tree.
    Protect the fruit.
    Protect the farmer.
    Protect livelihood.
    Protect the heritage.
    Protect the future.
    That is the responsibility we are accepting today.
    What we inherit, we must protect. What we harvest, we must harvest responsibly.
    And what we leave behind must be capable of sustaining generations yet unborn.
    PRESIDENTIAL VALIDATION, ADOPTION AND SANCTION
    RESOLUTIONS OF THE GENERAL HOUSE OF THE JIRAPA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL
    I, Naa Dinaa Donglabong Ganaa III, Jirapa Naa and President of the Jirapa Traditional Council, hereby certify that the foregoing resolutions were duly tabled before the General House of the
    Jirapa Traditional Council for consideration and deliberation.
    Following deliberations, the resolutions were adopted by the House as the collective resolutions and official position of the Jirapa Traditional Council, in accordance with the applicable customary
    procedures of the Council.
    Accordingly, in my capacity as President of the Jirapa Traditional Council, I hereby validate, affirm and sanction the adoption of these resolutions and direct that they be formally communicated to
    all relevant traditional authorities, the Jirapa Municipal Assembly, public institutions, departments, agencies, security services, development partners and members of the public for their information, cooperation and appropriate action.
    All chiefs and relevant stakeholders within the Jirapa Traditional Area are called upon to support the implementation of these resolutions within their respective jurisdictions and mandates,
    subject to the laws of the Republic of Ghana.
    These resolutions take effect in accordance with Section 24.
    ISSUED UNDER MY HAND AND THE AUTHORITY OF THE JIRAPA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL
    NAA DINAA DONGLABONG GANAA III
    Date: 8th October, 2026.
    Place: Jirapa, Upper West Region, Ghana.
    Registrar’s Certification
    I hereby certify that these resolutions were presented to the General House of the Jirapa Traditional Council for consideration, and that their adoption is recorded in the official minutes of the Council’s meeting held on the date below.
    Meeting date: 8 October 2026
    Name: Pelpuo Seidu Kudus

Source: Upper West Media App