Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has joined the call for the government to declare a state of emergency.
According to Honorable Ablakwa, the declaration will make way for more people and bodies, especially the diplomatic community to join in alleviating the problems facing the flood victims.
He argued that all indicators of a state of emergency are apparent, hence his call.
“We will want to hear the government declare a state of emergency. As a ranking member of Foreign affairs, I can confirm to you that several diplomats are asking me why the government is not declaring a state of emergency. Because that is what will trigger their support, their intervention. And they are right.
“All the tenets of a state of emergency are very apparent. As I speak to you, there is no schooling. For more than a week education has been disrupted. Most of these shift camps were made in the schools, so no education. Water has been cut. The Ghana Water Company has cut water. And you can understand. Their substations were submerged. Their water tanks were submerged. It is the same for ECG, cutting electricity because they are saying that their substations are submerged. They are saying they don’t want mass electrocution.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP
Furthering his argument, he highlighted the inability of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to keep essential supplies going to the victims. According to him, the camps have become very congested while NADMO continues to struggle to meet the needs of the residents. He thus believes that NADMO cannot shove the burden alone. Therefore the declaration would make way for all hands to come on deck to make lives comfortable for the victims.
Talking about the constitutional constraints for declaring a state of emergency, he indicated the willingness of the political class to all work together to ensure that they are fulfilled.
“Fortunately, these constitutional constraints are not Chinese walls that we cannot jump over. We are all ready and able to convene an emergency meeting of the house. We don’t have to wait. There are times that we have done this over less important matters. You recall that we have called the house during times of recess to discuss the Ford expedition matter and all kinds of petty political matters. How much more is this humanitarian crisis? So we should be able to convene the house, even under two hours… Many members of the Council of State have already shown concern and goodwill to help.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP
Honorable Okudzeto also mentioned his medical partnership with the Ghana Medical Association which has been supplying medicines to residents at the camps.
“As I speak to you, you have a situation where people don’t have access to their medication, they had to flee for their dear lives. So senior citizens, the aged, we are now scrambling around trying to get them their medication. It is only today that we kicked off our partnership with the Ghana Medical Association, what I am calling the MP’s Medical Caravan, to go around the camps and take everybody’s medical history, and make sure we provide them with medicines. Let me thank Atlantic Pharmaceuticals who are on their way with much-needed medicines.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP
North Tongu Resident Not Ready To Do Politics
Criticizing the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for his speech at Mepe, Hon. Ablakwa emphasized that his people were not ready to discuss politics in the middle of a humanitarian crisis.
“I must emphasize that for us in North Tongu, we are faced with a humanitarian crisis. We don’t think this is the time for politics at all. The president can say whatever he wants. His spin doctors can put whatever they want to put on it. I want to discuss the plight of my people. As I speak to you, the communities that are affected have increased. We now have 20 camps. As I speak to you, there is massive congestion. The regional health directorate has warned after an assessment that there is a looming epidemic; of typhoid, and malaria, they are also talking about cholera because of the condition. The place is really in a mess.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP
The Member of Parliament therefore emphasized that they don’t have any time for politics. He said they “don’t want to care about how people vote and who people vote for in the next elections.” He even expressed his unwillingness to discuss the speech of the President as he and his constituents continue to battle with a humanitarian crisis.
In addition, he commended the Christian Council and the Ghana Tankers Owners Union for their massive donations to his people and urged more people and organizations to urgently come to their aid.
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