Comments from President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, indicating he shouldn’t have visited flood victims in the Volta region because they do not vote for him, has been described by the Member of Parliament (MP) of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, as unnecessary.
The MP’s comments come after President Akufo-Addo had told residents of Mepe, a community in the Volta region which also got flooded that he wasn’t supposed to be there if the votes he gets from them was anything to go by.
Visiting some of the victims Monday, October 16, 2023, the President noted “when I took the oath of office as president, I took the oath of office as president of every single individual in Ghana. Of all peoples in Ghana, all districts and whether they voted for me or not, once I’ve taken the oath, I’m the President of all the people.”
“So, I want the people here beginning with you (Togbe) and your elders to understand that when something like this happens, and government acts, government is acting for all Ghanaians. I came here because Ghanaians are having difficulties and are suffering. And it is my responsibility to try and help because if it’s the question of counting who votes for me and who doesn’t vote for me, I shouldn’t be here because you don’t vote for me. But that is not my concern,” President Akufo-Addo told chiefs and residents of Mepe when he was giving an address.
But their Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says the comments were uncalled for, especially at the point in time.
According to the MP, the President’s swiftness in responding to disasters elsewhere compared to the Volta region is not encouraging especially looking at how he exhibits care during such instances in different countries.
According to Mr. Ablakwa, the President’s response which came “too late after public agitations” leading to the establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee to ascertain the enormity of the disaster to proffer needs for the victims is not so pleasing.
“I think that those comments are not necessary at this point. Already my people think that his response was too late. The way he swiftly comments on disasters elsewhere particularly in other countries, we didn’t get that kind of response rate. It took a lot of public agitation to set up the inter-ministerial committee and then to come here and visit us today,”
“But they say better late than never, we acknowledge his visit,” he added.
Speaking with TV3’s Joseph Armstrong, the North Tongu MP indicated the utmost concern of his constituents is to get them out of their plight.
“What is really important is not just his mere visit, mere rhetoric. We want to see what plans are being put in place to alleviate the plight of our people,” he disclosed.
Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa spoke of compensation for his people since the flooding is not a natural disaster but rather a violation of their rights by the Volta River Authority (VRA). He bemoaned the fact that the VRA has taken them for granted.
“We have a humanitarian crisis, people don’t have access to relief items. In times like this we must also be talking about a compensation plan. What is the plan to compensate because this is not a natural disaster. This is VRA really not being fair to us. They took us for granted, they have violated our rights, they have created this humanitarian disaster, all of these losses, which really if you want to quantify, the losses, will run into millions. Livelihoods have been destroyed and all of these were avoidable if VRA had done its work well, –had begun spilling gradually many weeks ago, –all of that,” he lamented.
He also called for an investigation into the spillage which to make reforms to avert future occurrences.
“So, I will demand a probe into this affair, people must not get away, so that most importantly, there will be reforms and this will not recur. We must prevent this from happening and of course we must be thinking of an engineering solution as a country because we don’t feel safe,” he stated.
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