Send Ghana, a think tank group into policy research and civil society advocacy has called on government to halt any further demolition exercise at Old Fadama in Accra, until collective efforts at stemming the Coronavirus pandemic received positive outcomes.
It urged government to urgently arrange for temporary abode to relocate those affected by the demolition exercise to guarantee their safety and protect their human dignity.
This was contained in a release signed by Mr George Osei-Akoto Bimpeh, Country Director of Send Ghana (SG) and copied to the Ghana News Agency.
It said SG was aware of the perennial flooding that usually plagued the area and other parts of Accra, resulting from illegal structures and appreciated government's efforts in working proactively to avert calamity or disaster.
It, however, criticized the timing of the demolition exercise, which it believed was undertaken without human face as scores of people were displaced in an era of lockdown occasioned by a global pandemic, COVID-19.
It said SG was worried about how the people could abide by the protocols outlined by government to contain the spread of the disease.
The release asked how government through the action of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) expected the displaced people to stay at home in compliance with the lockdown directives.
Again, it wondered how such distraught people would observe basic hygiene rules required to avoid infection by the disease.
"Is it not clear defiance of logic that the very vulnerable citizens that government is protecting in this moment of the crisis are the same people whose rights have been violated and dignity severely injured," it stated.
The release said AMA's action constituted an infringement on the affected citizen's right to housing, and in particular, non-compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), especially, Article 11 of the Convention, which stated in part that "State parties to the present Covenant recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for him/herself and his/her family including adequate food, clothing and housing."
It noted that Ghana as a state party had refused to take appropriate steps to ensure the realisation of the right to the affected people.
Human rights advocates and other groupings including Ghana's chapter of Amnesty International jointly slammed the action of the AMA of April 15, which led to the demolition exercise at Old Fadama, estimated to house about a 1,000 slum-dwellers, who were rendered homeless, when wooden structures that sheltered them were pulled down to pave way for the annual dredging of the Korle Lagoon.
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