A non-governmental organisation, Slum Union of Ghana, has accused the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) of infringing upon international conventions by carrying out demolition of Mensah Guinea, a slum in Accra, without prior notice to dwellers.
The Union implored government to immediately direct the AMA to offer alternative places of abode to homeless families at Mensah Guinea.
Speaking to TV3’s Evelyn Tengmaa in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Abdulai Alhassan, the General Secretary of the Union, observed that by international conventions relocation of persons who have stayed in a place for more than 20 years must be made as smooth as possible.
It requires consultation with stakeholders including those to be affected, said Mr Alhassan.
But what the AMA did recently at Mensah Guinea is illegal, he said.
The Assembly supervised by its Chief Executive Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije demolished structures in that suburb of Accra with the reason that it is the cause of numerous cases of cholera in the municipality.
“I don’t even believe the assertion that 16 of the [cholera] cases came from this community,” stated Mr Alhassan.
He contended that since over 200 deaths of the bacterial disease have been recorded and the Assembly claims 16 are from Mensah Guinea, the communities of the rest should have also been demolished.
“You don’t demolish my house because it is dirty but you help me clean it,” he stated, insinuating that the AMA should have helped to rid the community of filth rather than rendering most of them homeless.
He said the AMA should take immediate steps to find alternate shelter for dwellers of Mensah Guinea who have no place to go.
