Sodom and Gomorrah demolition: Gov’t very insensitive – MP aspirant
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for Agona West Constituency, Mrs. Cynthia Morrison, has criticized the ongoing demolition exercise at Sodom and Gomorrah, describing it as a cruel move.
According to her, the ongoing
demolition by the Accra Mayor, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, has rendered thousands
of the slum dwellers homeless.
The recently elected MP candidate
said the move by Mr Vanderpuije is 'insensitive'. She has appealed to
Government to do something quickly to alleviate the plight of the affected
people.
She told Joy News in an exclusive
interview on Tuesday that although Government has the power to do what it deems
appropriate it acted with high-handedness against the slum dwellers, neglecting
their plight.
Cynthia Morrison says the timing in
particular was wrong.
“It’s a very insensitive decision
taken by AMA, though Government has the right to demolish the illegal
structures from there but the timing is so wrong; we are currently in a season
of Ramadan, the rainy season is here, the children too are re-writing their
Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and everybody is at risk, I
don't think this is a right time", she stated.
"As for moving them, I believe
we have to move them because where they are residing is not hygienically good
for them but we should have tried giving them a place for shelter before moving
them”, she added.
She recounted how the State assisted
refugees from Liberia when that country plunged into civil war, questioning why
the same assistance could not be extended to the slum dwellers.
"When the refugees came from
Liberia, Government managed to get them a place to live, but what are we doing
to our very own?" she asked.
"Government just pulled down
their buildings when they had gone to work. They came back only to realize they
don't have a place to live. Assuming it rained tonight, where are they going to
sleep? That’s my worry", she stressed.
Mrs. Cynthia Morrison who is a
Director of Maryland Montessori School at Agona Swedru was elected as the NPP
Parliamentary Candidate for Agona West Constituency to contest 2016 elections
during the party’s primaries.
She polled 524 as against 144 votes
by Mathias Fred Adjei the incumbent.
The 2016 aspirant NPP Parliamentary
Candidate contested for the primaries in 2012 in an attempt to win the
Awutu-Senya seat but lost to Mrs. Mercy Hawa Koomson.
She said she is working hard as a
noble candidate of the NPP party to wrestle the seat from the NDC Member of
Parliament for the area come 2016 general elections and called on all members
to vote for her massively to win.
She said President John Mahama was
not running the country well, urging Ghanaians to vote him out in the 2016
general elections.
According to her Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo is the right option for Ghana.
The Old Fadama community, popularly
known as Sodom and Gomorrah, came into being in the early 90s following bloody
clashes between the Kokomba and Nanumba ethnic groups in the northern Region
which left thousands dead.
A huge number of Northerners fearful
for their lives fled south of the country and made the Old Fadama their new
home.
They have lived in the area for some
two decades, have inter-married, given birth and multiplied.
The settlers have turned the area
into a slum and have since been living in squalor.
The place is also believed to be a
den for criminals even though there are some genuine hardworking residents
living there.
Past and present governments have
attempted to demolish the slum but have been cowed by political pressures and
the fear of losing elections.
However after the June 3 disaster,
Mayor of Accra Alfred Oko Vanderpuije decided the time for Sodom and Gomorrah
to go was now.
On Saturday earth moving equipment
descended on the ramshackle structures that housed the residents and tore them
into rubbles.
The residents who claimed they were
not informed about the demolition on Monday took over the streets in violent
protestations.
But their protests yielded no
fruits. On Tuesday the AMA taskforce returned to the Old Fadama to finish the
task of demolishing the community.
While the mayor is facing stiff
opposition from the victims of the demolition, members of the governing NDC are
also kicking against the demolition.
They say the demolition could have
dire repercussion on their electoral fortunes as the 2016 elections beckons.
But the Mayor has been resolute in
his decision to demolish the structures at Sodom and Gomorrah.
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