Call for International assistance for Northern Ghana Flood Victims

A Call for International assistance for Northern Ghana Flood Victims- BONABOTO-UK

BONABOTO-UK expresses it shock of the destruction and human misery caused by the recent flood in the three Northern regions in Ghana and call upon the international community especially the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the UK Disaster Relief Committee and most particularly the British government to come to the aid of the people of Northern Ghana.

We salute the people of the three regions, the political authorities and the government of Ghana for their efforts so far under difficult circumstance in trying to alleviate the suffering and pain caused by the flood.

Reports from Ghana indicate that in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions, which make up about 40 percent of Ghana’s landmass, damage by the flood is widespread. All the eight districts especially in the Upper East Region have been the hardest hit. Thousands of hectares of farmlands have been destroyed. Some villages are accessible only by a 10-km canoe ride.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and the Read Cross the floods have killed at least 30 people, destroyed bridges linking Ghana to its neighbouring countries, and knocked over or partially destroyed around 30,000 homes.

Mr George Isaac Amoo, NADMO national coordinator, who called the area “the most poverty endemic region in the country”, said the numbers of people affected are constantly changing, but provisional numbers as of 13 September from NADMO and the Ministry of Interior indicate 227,812 in the Northern Region, 37,429 in the Upper East Region, 7,811 in the Western Region and 473 in the Upper West Region.

President John Kufuor has declared all three northern regions disaster zones. Ghana Government figures indicate that in northern Ghana flooding has affected more people than in all the other West African countries combined, yet the disaster has received little international attention compared to floods elsewhere in the region and some parts of the world. BONABOTO-UK is however grateful to the BBC for its coverage of the flood in its news bulleting on 16th and 19th September 2007.

BONABOTO-UK therefore is calling upon the international community, all Ghanaians and supporter of northern Ghana living in abroad to react to the disaster if we are to avoid the dangers of famine and of waterborne diseases in the days and months ahead.

In the meantime anyone who is touched or concerned about the flood in Northern Ghana and needs more information or want to donate any thing could contact the BONABOTO secretariat on:

Tel: 00 44 207 633 0860 Email: bonaboto@yahoo.co.uk Mobile: 07939848075/07944584587

Issued by: BONABOTO-UK Date: 19th September 2007