Dela Sikadzi writes to Akufo-Addo: You intentionally omitted problems facing Volta Region

Dear President Akufo Addo,

I have never written a letter to you. But this is extremely important and I am tired of seeing people who you should be protecting lose lives, homes, and livelihoods. Since I do not know a faster way to get to you, especially because I am not a part of your inner circle, this is my way of reaching you in time to prevent more disaster. My prayer is that this letter moves you to do what you should have done by now.

In your five years of leadership as the president of our country, you neglected the development concerns of the people of the Volta Region mainly because they have a history of voting against your political party. In all the financial plans you made, you intentionally omitted problems facing many parts of the region and its people. If I am sincere and direct, you are one of the most vindictive presidents Ghana have had in its history. I do not say this lightly. Many people share the same sentiment as me.

This is a video made in Agavedzi two days ago. The people on this stretch of our land have been begging you for more than four years. But you have refused to do anything concrete about the situation, and we continue to lose lands, houses, schools, businesses and even lives. The people of Agavedzi, like many southern parts of the country, depend on fishing and fish processing to survive. Why are you, as the president, not concerned? Isn’t that what leadership is about?

About two years ago, I contacted the NADMO director, begging him to send reliefs to support my people. I never got a reply. It broke my heart. Why must we only help people who support our political parties? Isn’t being elected into power mean serving all? While your family members and friends live in comfortable properties and lands bought with our tax money, the common people continue to beg for basic survival.

One significant difference between this current sea erosion and those in the past is that it is almost at the roadside, as the video shows. This is the only road that connects the people of the Keta and Anloga municipalities to Aflao and its neighbouring towns and villages. Why is your government not rushing to ensure that this road is saved?

I nearly lost my junior brother several years ago because there was no connecting road at the time. If not for the benevolence of our Godfather, who had a four-wheel drive to go through the sand at time, rushing my brother to the hospital, we may not have him with us today. This is what we those who grew up in Keta and its environs went through before the sea defence project. And this is precisely why that road cannot be lost to the sea.

The people of Agavedzi are hard-working people. This is a natural disaster that they have no control over or the means to stop. Only the government can undertake such a huge project. Please, Mr President, leave your vindictiveness and tribalism aside for once and save these people. It is their right. You should do your job. If you don’t do anything about it, each cry they make, each wail that emanates from their hearts, each life that is lost, anytime they remember they can’t afford education or food or healthcare for themselves or their children anymore because they lost their livelihoods… All the pain that comes with these will hunt you and your family.

Leadership should be about supporting all citizens irrespective of their voting pattern. We were all in this country when the current opposition party built one of the largest shaded modern markets in West Africa in the Ashanti region. Why can’t your government do the same? Or are the people of the Volta region not human beings too? Please do your job. If nothing at all, some of us are watching. We will make sure this doesn’t get lost in history. We may not have the money and power of your family and friends, but we definitely have the ability to write, to document, to ensure that the world and generations to come know what kind of president you were.

PS: Guys, let’s make sure this gets to the president. All of us have the power to ensure that these people are saved