A member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team Kamaldeen Ibrahim has described the government’s flood management task force as “the most useless” ever established, accusing President Mahama’s administration of failing to prevent the devastating floods that recently hit Accra.
Speaking on The Forum on Asaase Radio on Saturday (4 July), Ibrahim popularly known as Amasaman Broni criticised the task force chaired by Deputy Chief of Staff Stan Dogbe, alleging that it had failed to carry out its preventive mandate since it was inaugurated.
“This task force… is the most useless task force ever launched by any president,” Ibrahim said.
“It was launched last year. They’ve never issued a single report because their work should be preventive so that we wouldn’t face what we are facing today.”
Ibrahim argued that the flooding was the result of government inaction rather than an unavoidable natural disaster.
Conflicting explanations
He also questioned what he described as conflicting explanations from President Mahama over the causes of the flooding.
“Nobody in this country gets more briefing than the president,” he said.
“Today if you ask me the cause of this flood, I don’t know. Just like the president himself. Because President Mahama in one breath tells you it is an engineering problem. In another breath he will tell you it has to do with our indiscipline.”
The NPP official said that, based on comments Mahama made while in opposition, responsibility for the floods should now rest with the current administration.
“The only cause of this flooding that happened in Accra is as a result of the failure of President Mahama’s administration,” he said.
Double standards
Ibrahim questioned why engineering solutions to recurring floods had not been implemented more than a year into the government’s tenure, arguing that protecting lives and property should be a priority.
He also criticised the administration’s management of the capital and accused it of failing to fulfil commitments made before returning to office.
His comments come amid growing political debate over responsibility for the floods that swept through parts of southern Ghana following heavy rains on June 29, leaving people dead, displacing thousands and causing widespread damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure.
The government has since launched a nationwide recovery operation involving the Ghana Armed Forces and other state agencies to clear drains, remove debris and assist affected communities.
Source: asaaseradio.com
