Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu
Over 4000 residents were rendered homeless after tidal wave
Residents living in some communities along the Keta – Aflao stretch are living in fear
Akufo-Addo silence after tidal wave crisis worrying, says minority
Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed disappointment about government’s failure to address the issue of tidal waves which has affected some over 4000 people, in the 2022 budget.
According to him, it is insensitive for government to omit such a humanitarian crisis that hit the country.
He added that even though Akufo-Addo is known for speaking about such issues of sensitive nature, he appears rather silent on this particular issue, something he finds unpardonable.
Speaking on the floor of parliament during the 2022 debate, he said “my disappointment in the budget stems from the rather insensitive, cruel and unpardonable omission of the tidal wave humanitarian crisis that hit this country”.
“The foreign policy of this president is that anytime disaster of this nature has happened in other jurisdictions, he’s among the first world leaders to comment, to empathise, and to condemn. In Sierra Leone, when a similar disaster happened, they did not only issue a statement, the vice-president led a delegation to Sierra Leone to commiserate with them and to make donations”.
Okudzeto Ablakwa also expressed disbelief about majority’s excuse that the subject of tidal waves was omitted because at the time of the crisis the budget had already been drafted.
He believes that reason doesn’t hold because provision is made for capturing events that occur after crisis in budgets.
“Here in Ghana, on 5th November, a week before the budget was presented, the president, up till now, has refused to say a word; not a statement of empathy, not a statement of sympathy”.
“I’ve gone through the entire budget – works and housing, all the appendices … priority projects from now to 2024, not a mention of the Berekuso coastal protection project. It’s not a priority, not now and not in the medium term…” the North Tongu MP lamented.