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The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Abakwa, believes the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, was being vague on the matter of the possible culpability of pro-New Patriotic Party group, Invisible Forces, in the Kintampo Waterfall disaster.

He said on Eyewitness News that, “clearly the minister was evasive on that particular issue.”

The Chief of Kyeremankoma, where the site is located, alleged that the group evicted all tour guides after the NPP won the 2016 elections, in the weeks leading up to the March 2017 disaster which claimed 18 lives.

But the Minister, Catherine Afeku, stated on the floor of Parliament that the Municipal Assembly was firmly in control of the tourist site.

But Mr. Ablakwa said it was clear that “she could not tell Parliament who was manning the place. She only says vaguely that it was under the care of the municipality… She doesn’t tell us who these personnel were, who contracted them and why they lacked the requisite training and expertise to be there.”

“She could not tell us the specific names, the management company, who contracted them and who the persons there were. These are all questions that we are still asking.”

In Mr. Ablakwa’s view, the nature of the situation demanded more transparency and boldness “to expose wrongdoing if wrongdoing has happened.”

More safety audits needed

Mrs. Afeku’s conclusions on the floor were in relation to the official Safety Audit team’s report which was delivered in response to a query by Mr. Ablakwa.

She has assured that the full report will be made available to Parliament, but gleaning some bits of information from what the Minister delivered, Mr. Ablakwa highlighted the fact that only six other tourists sites were being audited by a safety team.

Mr. Ablakwa remarked that, the safety audits needed to be expanded to other tourist sites.

“Six struck me. There are hundreds of tourists’ sites and it is surprising that the ministry is carrying out safety audits in only six… I think that the ministry can do more to guarantee the safety of tourists. I think that they can expand the safety audits beyond the six that they have selected.”

The sites under audit are; Fuller Falls near Kintampo, Kakum National Park in the Central Region, Wli Falls in the Volta Region, Nzulezu in the Western Region, Bunsu Aboretem in the Eastern Region and Boti Waterfalls in the Eastern Region.