Hypocrisy Of A Demolition  

Now the chickens have come home to roost and the hypocrisy of government exposed beyond compare. Although Accra's Sodom & Gomorrah might not be known for homosexual activities as did its Biblical antecedent, it still spots enough iniquities to create a worrying level of nuisance for every government and other residents in the other parts of Accra.

As a haven for criminals, it harbours an assortment of firearms of which criminals reach out for their supplies. Such weapons bound for the flashpoints in the northern parts of the country, have occasionally been stopped upon tipoff by law enforcement agents.

For a long time the slum dwellers have enjoyed the patronage of politicians of the ruling party: it serves as an important vote quarry.

Now that has gone and the government has decided to crack the whip in the aftermath of the killer floods.

If only it applied the soothing measures the previous Kufuor government put in place when it readied itself to move the slum dwellers, this editorial would have been unnecessary.

The NDC went to court describing the movement and demolition as harsh and inhuman. It had its way and the movement was aborted as were the huge funds government had expended for the project somewhere near Amasaman.

Lion Afotey Agbo roared on the residents last Saturday, destroying shacks which make the place one of the most prominent slums in the country.

The Greater Accra Regional Minister could not have ordered the demolition of the slum which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) feasted on for political leverage.

So what has changed since then and the NDC would risk losing the votes of slum dwellers it promised its full support, and now evicting them without a human face?

We cannot be faulted when we conclude that the government, after coming under a barrage of attacks for not doing enough to obviate the killer floods, has found in the demolition a way of proving its ability to deal with issues.

We do not by this commentary intend to stand in the way of a demolition which would obviate future floods. Ours is to expose the hypocrisy as represented in the demolition by a government which suffers a deficit of morals.

If it was bad when the NPP wanted to do it, the same quality should underpin such action today, we dare state.

Government should explain to Ghanaians why the funds meant for the construction of storm drains were not used for the purpose.

That would calm the tempers of the citizenry and not a kneejerk reaction of a demolition it worked hard against in the past.

Let government be consistent with the project. Allowing the slum dwellers when elections are due would not be surprising. As for the Odododiodoo constituency MP, he should be licking his wounds. The demolition is beyond him.

At Bukom he blocked a demolition exercise when he bullied the Chief Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.