A former General-Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Dr Kwabena Opuni Frimpong, has called for a centralised donation system to take stock of all relief items being donated to victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage to ensure efficient and equal distribution of items.
He said by establishing such a system, it would ensure that items that had been pouring in since the opening of the dam that had resulted in the flooding of many homes and businesses across some regions in the country would lead to an equitable distribution of the relief items without “leaving no one behind”
Speaking in an interview, Dr Frimpong said if care was not taken, some of the victims would have more than enough while others would be starving.
“What I mean is that some communities are attracting media attention, but in times like this, you might get a minority group in a small community somewhere that might not attract the same attention. In such cases, they might be forgotten,” he added.
Some of the affected communities are located in the Volta, Oti, Eastern, Savanna, Northern and parts of the Greater Accra regions where hundreds of people have been displaced, and their homes and property destroyed.
Dr Frimpong described the flooding as an “unfortunate development” and appealed to citizens to demonstrate that “we are a caring nation”.
“It is these times that we must let our friends, brothers and sisters in crisis know that we care and that we are there for them,” he said, adding that citizens must rally around the victims to inspire hope in them.
He acknowledged that so far some religious bodies, organisations, companies, groups and individuals have donated various items, including food, but said there was still the need to do more for the victims.
Dr Frimpong further advised against politicisation of the crisis and said: “At this time, certain things can wait, let us not politicise issues but make sure we get our people out of the crisis.
“At the moment, we must focus on the plight of our people, rally around them, demonstrate love, care and support,” he added.
Dr Opuni Frimpong also observed that the manner the spillage of the dam was carried out by the Volta River Authority (VRA) gave the impression that there was not enough consultation before it embarked on the exercise.
“The current crisis does not give the impression of any serious discussions and coordination between and among the VRA, the district assemblies within the catchment areas, security agencies, education managers and other stakeholders before the authority opened the dam,” he said.
Dr Frimpong, therefore, called for an acceptance of responsibility.
“You are paid to take certain responsibilities and, therefore, you must accept responsibility if your work is not properly done,” he said.