New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart Dr. Kobina Arthur Kennedy has pooh-poohed former President Jerry John Rawlings over comments that he would have pulled down several buildings on water ways ‘if I had a bulldozer’.
The medical doctor in a facebook post labeled President Rawlings as a person who owned all bulldozers in Ghana during his 22-year rule and yet did nothing about the annual Accra floods.
“A former Head of State who virtually owned all the bulldozers for decades and did nothing wishes he had a bull-dozer…,” he said in a post titled the floods hit Accra.
The former president during a visit to the scene of the Accra floods/explosion in Kwame Nkrumah Circle on June 4 said he wished he could have caused lots of change in Ghana by pulling down several structures.
"I wish I had a bulldozer," he said.
But Arthur Kennedy seems to disagree with the former president and several political leaders on measures taken to avert the situation.
“The president who promised last year to deal with floods but did not has promised - again, to deal with floods. Hopefully, in the next few years, we shall not have another flood with deaths with this or another President promising to fix things and doing nothing.
The supposedly best Mayor of Africa, who argued with Ebo Whyte last year that he would do something and did nothing, is still at post.
Politicians who did not lift a finger to fix floods are feigning indignation that the current government is not fixing the problem they failed to fix.” He posted.
He further called on the ‘do-nothing’ Parliament to ‘find out what happened to the funds secured by the government to fix the problem’. Read below the full post:
THE FLOODS HIT ACCRA
First, my condolences to the bereaved families, to Accra and to Ghana. We are still burying the dead but the political posturing and finger-pointing is under way.
A former Head of State who virtually owned all the bulldozers for decades and did nothing wishes he had a bull-dozer.
The President who promised last year to deal with floods but did not has promised - again, to deal with floods. Hopefully, in the next few years, we shall not have another flood with deaths with this or another President promising to fix things and doing nothing.
The supposedly best Mayor of Africa, who argued with Ebo Whyte last year that he would do something and did nothing is still at post.
Politicians who did not lift a finger to fix floods are feigning indignation that the current government is not fixing the problem they failed to fix. Parliament, the do-nothing Parliament has called for measures to deal with floods.
First, some resignations would show that somebody did not do his/her work. That is the norm in civilized societies. Elsewhere, thousands would march to make sure that politicians feel their pain and their frustration.
Second, Parliament must find out what happened to the funds secured by the government to fix the problem. Have the funds been misused or unused? Furthermore, they should review the performance of NADMO and the emergency services. How many calls were made? Who responded to them and how? What lessons were learned? What measures did the hospitals take?
Next, when we embark on pulling down structures, they must be done transparently, fairly and consistently. In cases where people were given permits to build in forbidden areas, the government officials involved must be punished.
Finally, let us commend the Party leaders--Afoko, Portophy,Samia and Ramadan for touring together. This is a Ghanaian failure, not a partisan failure and it must be tackled as a Ghanaian problem-- together. They must act in tandem to create solutions for the helpless masses.
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