Government And VRA Must Pay For Their Inactions That Caused The Volta Floods
By Francis-Jackson Ahiable
We commiserate with our brothers, sisters and kinsmen across the flooded areas of the Volta South particularly the Tongu areas who have lost their properties, and have been relocated in makeshift camps.
The flood victims have lost their rights to basic necessities of life, and are going through the daily baptism of thirst, hunger and exposure to extreme weather and mosquito and snake bites.
We do not anticipate crocodile attacks but that cannot be ruled out as the flood waters continue to expand to forest reserves with wildlife.
The submersion by the flood of morgues, cemeteries and numerous community places of convenience is a recipe for an eminent epidemic that may take innocent lives.
The Ministry of Health was excluded from the Inter Ministerial Task Force set up to manage the disaster, proof that the government is run from a PC desktop.
The only explanation for the flood that has inundated large tracks of farmland and human settlements downstream is total institutional failure.
The government and VRA, were caught off-guard by the sheer scale of the spillage from Akosombo.
The criminals that caused the disaster are still at work.
They are spending good time defending their inaction and not a single leader has resigned or was fired. Welcome to Nana Akufo-Addo’s Ghana.
The culprits of this crime that was perpetrated against the Voltarians are the President and his cabinet, VRA, NADMO, and the Red Cross.
Our check has revealed that due to corruption related issues, the operations of the Red Cross in Ghana is on hold.
Having visited the affected victims, we expected the government to declare a state of emergency to trigger the release of funds from the state kitty to alleviate the suffering of the flood victims.
Over 26,000 people excluding children of school going age have been displaced, their livelihoods destroyed by the flood waters, and we are still counting the cost as the spillage continues
The government perceives the disaster as a new normal, and that is gauged from the tone of the speech of the President when he visited the flooded areas.
It is strange for the leader of the nation to be talking about votes when people in distress gather to hear what you have for them.
The people of Tongu are tax paying Ghanaians who own businesses in the flooded zones that contribute to economic development.
Consider the rice and grains fields, vegetable farms, livestock and poultry enterprises, and fish farms worth millions of Ghana Cedis that were destroyed in the catchment areas of the Volta during the spillage.
The funds for the relief items that the government is providing to alleviate the suffering of the flood victims is not from the private account of the President or the coffers of the NPP.
The day the President visited the flood victims the banner headline of one mainstream newspaper reads: ‘President Visits Flood Victims’, a well choreographed trip.
He arrived at the disaster area empty handed, and without a convoy of trucks carrying relief items.
As usual, it was a fleet of SUV’s fueled by the tax payers money.
He arrived at the disaster area empty handed, and without a convoy of trucks carrying relief items.
As usual, it was a fleet of SUV’s fueled by the tax payers money.
The President did not dress to fit the occasion let alone wearing a pair of Wellington boots.
We really missed His Excellency the late President Jerry John Rawlings who was in the trenches with the suffering masses.
The President went beyond bounds in his unguarded statement, of “I know you didn’t vote for me,” and this has put his communicators and social media handlers in a tight corner as they tried in futility to water down the pronouncements of the first gentlemen of the land on social media, TV and other forums.
Negligence by VRA and failure of the government to be proactive brought unnecessary suffering to innocent citizens who are going about their normal lives.
What social interventions has VRA brought to communities that are under threat from the floods?
Point out a single cooperate social responsibility of VRA in Sogakope, Tefle, Mepe, Sokpoe and other communities downstream.
The whole flooded area must be considered and labeled as a crime scene.
I suggest that the flood victims take a class action (sue) against the government and VRA to fully recover their lost properties.
It will be in the right direction if some lawyers would work with the affected private enterprises and community leaders to initiate an action to get justice for the loss of properties.
I know the Volta flood victims are busily counting the cost of their losses and would in a good time hit the streets and courts if the promises of the government are unfulfilled.
By: Francis-Jackson Ahiable.
Senior Correspondent
Radio Kulcha
Accra
18th October, 2023
