Gideon Hammond, a Ghanaian young man is staging a one-man demonstration in front of the seat of government, the Jubilee House, in Accra.
His reason, he says, is to register his displeasure over what he describes as the President’s adamance in declaring a State of Emergency in the various areas affected by the floods from the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams.
Mr. Hammond, speaking on Maakye on Onua TV/FM Friday, October 27, 2023, said after the numerous calls from various stakeholders for the President to declare a State of Emergency, he seem not to make a fuss about it.
He says declaring a State of Emergency will attract help from international bodies to help ameliorate the plight of the victims.
He also wants the victims relocated to the Saglemi Housing unit as they have been calling until a permanent solution is found.
“I am going to be here till the President acts. Voltarians are also Ghanaians. The President swore an oath to serve all Ghanaians and Volta people are part. I’m not from Volta and I don’t stay in Volta but they are Ghanaians just like me,” he told Onua News’s Akua Sarpomaa.
Gideon says he will devise another strategy over the weekend and return to the streets on Monday if the President fails to heed to the calls to declare the State of Emergency in the affected areas.
Calls have come from several voices for a State of Emergency to be declared for the flood victims. Among them is former President John Dramani Mahama.
Mahama in a post made on X, formerly Twitter Wednesday, October 18, 2023 said “it is clear that the scope and scale of the flooding of communities along the Volta River is bigger than our crippled economy can bear.”
According to him, declaring a State of Emergency in the affected areas and requesting assistance from Ghana’s bilateral and multilateral partners is the surest way to go.
A State of Emergency is declared when a disaster has occurred or may be imminent that is severe enough to require State aid to supplement local resources in preventing or alleviating damages, loss, hardship or suffering.
“I recommend to Government to declare a State of Emergency in the affected areas and request relief assistance from our bilateral and multilateral partners immediately,” Mahama’s statement on X indicated.
It is clear that the scope and scale of the flooding of communities along the Volta River is bigger than our crippled economy can bear.
I recommend to Government to declare a State of Emergency in the affected areas and request relief assistance from our bilateral and… pic.twitter.com/XGZxsvDWU5
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) October 18, 2023
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John Mahama’s call followed an earlier one by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Assemblies of God Church which is also called for a permanent solution to be sought amid the support for declaring a State of Emergency.
To be able to achieve that, the church said there was the need for workable engineering solutions to be sought, intensification of public education on disaster prevention and effective sanctions against perpetrators of environmental degradation.
Despite backing the calls for a state of emergency, it stressed that those solutions were required “if we decide, as a nation, to be serious in finding long-term answers to the flooding and other nagging environmental questions.”
Addressing the press at the church’s head office in Accra, the General Superintendent of the church, Rev. Dr Stephen Wengam, further called for the necessary legislative and humanitarian weight on current measures being undertaken to bring the depressing situation under control.
“In addition to prayers, rigid application of science and technology should play a frontal role in dealing with the risks to human lives and property in the flood-prone areas.
“We believe finding a permanent solution to the impact of flood waters, any time there’s a spillage of water from any of the dams in Ghana will be most welcome” Rev. Dr Wengam stressed.
READ ALSO: Akosombo, Kpong dams spillage: Keta MP threatens to sue VRA for damage caused constituents
