We may not know it but Ghana now has internally displaced persons. These compatriots of ours were not displaced through security breakdowns or civil strife as in the case of other countries on the continent or outside it.
The action of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) a couple of days ago, using platoons of soldiers armed to the teeth, Carl Gustavs et al, to demolish buildings on land said to belong to the corporation, is responsible for the state of homelessness in which some of our compatriots find themselves in today.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) might consider setting up tents for these displaced persons on the land of their ancestors. Regardless of the circumstances which informed the action, we find it not only reprehensible but sadistic and unbecoming of a government.
The operation, as hatched by the TDC using the military, should have been disallowed by the Military High Command, given how such engagements leave the image of the Ghana Armed Forces in tatters. We saw aspects of the operation on some television networks and wondered whether we were watching a demonstration of defence tactics by one of the units of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Children who left for school returned home to find the rubbles of what used to be their houses and their parents morose and despondent; not even places of worship were spared in the demolition.
Having watched the springing of the permanent structures on the controversial land by the TDC, it is impossible to inveigle us into believing the stories being peddled by the corporation.
Government too, it is our take, could have intervened in a certain form to obviate the nasty scene which played out in the full glare of many Ghanaians close to the scene.
The excitement in the body language of the enforcers and the officials who accompanied them and who enjoyed the lamentation of the victims was both obscene and outlandish.
We do not seek to encourage the breaching of laid-down procedures for the acquisition of lands but seek to rather have government provide the necessary support for its citizens when they are on the verge of distress or already immersed in the kind of situation in which the displaced are currently.
Had the President been at home, perhaps he could have halted the operation. No? Well, we cannot tell because perhaps, he knew about it before emplaning to the Emirates.
The sheer number of victims: men, women and even kids is heartbreaking, unless those at the helm have the qualities of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who even sometimes allows the passage of humanitarian to rebel-held areas.
When those at the helm wear Lucifer’s mask, such developments as unleashed by the TDC become the norm, leaving the populace to writhe in pain and despondency.
Source: Editorial/Daily Guide
| Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
