Minister to be summoned before Parliament over Sodom and Gomorrah demolition
Mr Doe Adjaho, Speaker of Parliament, has directed the Business Committee to invite the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, to brief the House on the current demolition exercise in some parts of Accra.
The invitation followed concerns raised by Mr Fritz Baffour, MP for Ablekuma South on the security of the precincts of Parliament House, praying the Speaker to help beef up security there.
This was because irate persons whose structures were affected by the demolition exercise stormed the premises of the nearby State House building, and vandalized some state properties in protest against the demolition exercise.
Mr. Baffour expressed the belief that Parliament would sit up and address the issue.
Deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul, urged the Speaker to immediately order the cessation of the on-going demolition exercise at Old Fadama, popularly known as Sodom and Gomorrah.
He also requested the House to invite the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, to brief members on the road map for the demolishing exercise, which had displaced hundreds of households in the city’s shanty town.
According to Mr. Nitiwul, who is also the MP for Bimbilla, the demolition exercise had triggered a national security threat which the House must immediately address as representatives of the people.
He said enough time ought to have been given to the residents to enable them adequately prepare and vacate the premises before carrying out the exercise.
He told the House that if the AMA had done proper due diligence, the protests that greeted it wouldn’t have arisen.
Majority Leader Alban Sumana Bagbin, said it was important for the House to invite the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda, to brief members on the demolition exercise, since his ministry has oversight responsibility over the AMA.
The Speaker consequently directed the Business Committee of the House, of which Mr. Bagbin is the chairman, to invite the Local Government Minister to brief members on the exercise.
Source: GNA