Users of social media, especially on X (previously Twitter), have taken offense at comments made by Sanitation and Water Resources Minister Freda Prempeh, suggesting that people impacted by the Akosombo Dam leak were partially responsible for their circumstances.
During an event hosted by Ghana Water Company Limited that 1Family Radio broadcast on October 23, the minister suggested that the relevant state authorities notify everybody who might be affected by the leak of the necessity for them to evacuate. Their requests were nevertheless denied.
“We don’t want what has happened in Akosombo to happen to us in Accra. The Akosombo spillage happened even though VRA, NADMO, and the Water Resources Commission came together to educate the people in the community and did simulation exercises with them at Mepe, yet they refused to leave; they didn’t want to be evacuated.’’
“They stayed on till the end when we started spilling; unfortunately, look at what is happening, and the government has to spend millions of dollars on relief items, education, the whole area, and the water is contaminated,’’ she remarked.
The minister’s opinions provoked outrage on social networking site X. Some users accused the minister of lacking sentimentality, while others thought her remarks were at best reckless. One user said, “This should be the last time we let that elephant party anywhere near governance.”
This is the second time a government official has incited ire with remarks about the spill and the ensuing humanitarian strain on the populace and companies.
When he visited Mepe, one of the most severely affected communities, a week ago, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo found himself in the center of controversy when he connected political loyalty to carrying out his presidential duties.
He received harsh criticism on social media sites for being callous and trivializing the potentially fatal circumstances that people were facing.
Source: 1Familyradio