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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