Act on UNDP flats nuisance - Dr Ato Aidoo tells government

"The government must act swiftly to solve the problem of wrongful allocation and deterioration of the UNDP flats in Accra", Dr Daniel Ato Aidoo, Policy Analyst for Kra Consult has advised.

In a reminder post on his Facebook timeline titled "Ogyakrom Diary: Cantonment's UNDP Apartment - Ghana's President Must Act", Dr Aidoo touched on some recent happenings at the flats which he deems wrongful and inappropriate for which immediate action must be taken to resolve the issue and avert any more damage.

"The UNDP flats in Cantonments, as the name suggests, was built for staff of UN agencies, and Ghana's public service officials. But this once upon a time beautiful apartment complex is losing it's shine, experiencing unnecessary allocation challenges. It is not out of place to blame the ruling government".

“For over 10 years, this apartment complex has been an example of peaceful living in Accra. The NPP won elections in December 2016, and people who claim their party is in power have taken over, with further claims that they also work at Flagstaff House, the seat of government, as security and door guards. This is part of the wrongness".

"On June 7, 2017, one Police Constable Odoom, allegedly broke into Apartment D9 and forcibly ejected the occupant. Odoom is the new 'tenant'. And my checks indicate that he has no official allocation letter. Who approved this ejection as I grapple with many bad examples".

"It is sad to observe how some Presidential Reporters are still awaiting allocation letters from the sector Minister, and how party activists are now occupying apartments without official approval, my checks revealed", he added.

"Who is sleeping on the job?”, he questioned.

“This beautiful UNDP apartment complex, which was an example of peaceful living in Accra, is now unkempt, and these new occupants who claim to be supporters of the ruling government have enveloped and sealed the decency of living in a city. This represents a deviation from what was the norm for over ten years".

He further wrote "What has changed? The Mahama administration was bedevilled by many administrative hiccups, but reasoning prevailed as the allocation of these apartments was sensibly done through proper procedures, even if they were unfair. But they were fair. We criticized others for being pugnacious and insensitive, and we cannot practice same as we witness this rot at the UNDP apartment complex in Accra.

Dr Aidoo explained "If a government fails, the reasons are not solely generated by the actions and inactions of a President. Political party supporters who ignored the repercussions also take a bigger portion of the blame.The government must act swiftly on this "scramble for housing" by people who do not really care about how difficult it is to win power. Management of power is equally important, something which right-thinking people do not take for granted. A word to a sage.......".