“I Shouldn’t Be Here Because You Don’t Vote for Me”- Prez Akufo-Addo tells Victims of Dam Spillages
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, on Monday October 16,2023, entangled himself in a midst of controversy as he subtly reminded victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage in Mepe, Volta Region, that he had personally visited to offer sympathy, irrespective of their political affiliations.
The flooding, triggered by the spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong dams, has compelled numerous communities in the north, south, and central Tongu districts of the Volta region to evacuate, leaving them with the difficult task of salvaging their possessions.
The situation is dire, with even the staff of the Comboni Hospital forced to evacuate their quarters, seeking refuge under a pavilion. Patients have been discharged, leaving only 10 individuals in critical condition. If the water levels do not recede soon, they may also need to be relocated.
While touring the hard-hit districts, President Akufo-Addo assured the affected residents that the government would do everything within its power to resolve the crisis.
He explained, “My visit here is a very simple one. It is to come and sympathise and commiserate with you about the tragedy that has occurred. When it happened, I was in America on an official business and the Chief of Staff called me in America about what had happened and we discussed what had to be done.”
“We agreed to establish an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate government response to the tragedy…,” he said.
The president also pledged to provide further relief items to the flood victims. He disclosed that nine safe havens had been established in Mepe to ensure the safety of the displaced, and NADMO (National Disaster Management Organization) had supplied relief items to all those sheltered.
Addressing the issue of destroyed farmlands, President Akufo-Addo assured that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture would collaborate to devise a comprehensive solution to address the challenges.
Despite acknowledging that he did not receive a significant number of votes from the region during the elections, President Akufo-Addo emphasized that he was present to sympathize with the people as the leader of the entire country.
He urged Ghanaians not to politicize such incidents and reminded them of his commitment to serve all citizens, regardless of their political affiliations.
He stated, “When these things happen and government acts, politics does not come into the matter at all. When I took the oath of office as president, I took the oath as president for every single individual in Ghana, all people in Ghana, all districts and whether they voted for me or not, once I have taken the oath, I am the President of all the people so Togbe, I want the people here, beginning with you, and the elders to understand that when something like this happens and Government acts, Government is acting for Ghanaians, all Ghanaians.”
“I came here because Ghanaians are having difficulties and are suffering, and it is my responsibility to try and help. Because, if it is a question of counting who votes for me and who doesn’t vote for me, then I shouldn’t be here, because you don’t vote for me. But that is not my concern. And, in any event, one day you will vote for me and my party.”
“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩 [𝙖𝙣𝙙] 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 – 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪, 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪, 𝘾𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪 – 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡.
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙄 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙖, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙂𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙖, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙩. 𝙊𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚.
𝙏𝙤𝙜𝙗𝙚, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙂𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙂𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨. 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙂𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥. 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣. 𝘼𝙣𝙙, 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮”.
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