Danger looms in Accra

There is growing tension and apprehension among the people of the Ga State .The GaDangme council feels extensively cheated by what they see as the insensitivity of government to the concerns of the indigenees. The last straw seems to be the election of Dr. Kofi Owusu-Ansah, to the Council of State as their representative. Dr. Owusu-Ansah is Asante.

The GaDangmes are also unsettled at the failure of the government to give them a fair representation and a fair hearing on matters that concern. To them "for far too long, our concerns have fallen on deaf ears."

A declaration dubbed the "Christianborg Declaration" sent to the President, John Kufuor, called on him to promptly institute an enquiry into the shooting of one Mr. Eric Kotey during a peaceful march on Sunday, May 20, 2001.

The march was to "plead for adherence to a peaceful custom observed in the city from time immemorial."

The people are aggrieved at what they call a conspiracy of silence over the shooting and asked that the victim who sustained two gunshot wound, be adequately compensated.

The declaration signed by all the GaDangme chiefs and copied to the Speaker of Parliament and the leadership of the House, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney General among others, expressed "sorrow" at what it called a concerted effort of the police and the media to keep the Christianborg shooting out of the news. "It is fast becoming our plight, a people denied their rights and a culture because those who ought to care prefer to turn a blind eye", the declaration stated.

They asked the government to among other things take immediate steps to ensure that the GaDangme people are not rendered totally landless. "The authorities should announce without any delay measures to correct the denial of the rights of our leaders to collect certain land-related tolls."

But perhaps the one issue that could demand the most urgent attention, is the election of Dr. Kofi Owusu-Ansah, as the representative of the people of the Greater Accra Region to the Council of State.

The GaDangmes have described the election of Mr. Owusu-Ansah as a coup d'tat on them and said, "the man is pretending, he won't have our backing."

Accordingly, they've issued an ultimatum. The decision must be reversed and the man removed before July 1. They threaten to use all legitimate means to remove the man if the government fails to pay heed to their demand. "We shall not recognise him, and if the government fails to do something about it, we shall not recognise the Council of State as well."

"We have become voiceless, we don't have anybody representing us", Dr. Josiah Aryeh, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, and the President of the GaDangme Youth Association told the Network Herald.

Among issues raised the GaDangmes cited several instances of perceived injustices against them as a people, and see the recent move as a big blow describing it as "fraudulent."

They expressed their displeasure with the representation on the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) as well. The TDC has an Assin Chief as its chairman whilst there is no Ga member, a situation which is totally unacceptable, Prince Derek Adjei, Vice-Chairman of the GaDangme Youth Association, told NH.

To Dr. Aryeh, the problems are not going away and so there will be no compromise unless the government takes the necessary steps to address the issues that the people feel strongly about. "We want true democracy," he noted.

According to the two leading members of the GaDagme Youth Association, there can be no genuine reconciliation at least as far as the GaDangmes are concerned if they continue to feel cheated.

The process of reconciliation and repatriation should begin from the host city (Accra) and its people "GaDangme" should be the first to be considered in the reconciliation exercise before individuals are considered", the GaDangme people demand.

Meanwhile, Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheik I.C. Quaye MP himself an indigenee, said in his comments on the matter that it appeared as though a GaDangme failed to apply for the position.

Sheik Quaye, said although the people were aware of the deadline for the nominations, they did not put forward a candidate before the deadline.

He noted that the issue of the elections into the Council of State is a constitutional position, which is in the hands of the Electoral Commission and so must be determined by them.