The recent fires sweeping through some major markets in the capital city have given rise to concerns and comments meant to soothe the woes of hardworking market women whose goods have been totally or partially decimated.
In the midst of this national catastrophe, if you have prominent government officials and literate Ghanaians trying to read politics into such a disaster without any official report confirming their view or otherwise, then I dare say that Ghana has taken a backward turn.
Even before the fire service conducts its investigation and renders a report on the Makola No.2 market fire disaster on June 4, we have the sage, Member of Parliament for Odododiodio, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye rationalising the situation thus, ‘...My people cannot continue to endure this, this is cruel sabotage by cruel people... If it’s not sabotage what is it? What have the people of Odododiodio done?’(See Fire guts Makola No.2 market on Myjoyonline.com-June 4, 2013)
For the life of me, if this sound minister in his sound analysis knows these saboteurs, why can’t he proffer their names? Why will he blame unknown faces for the apparent failures of individuals who were supposed to act appropriately? The best thing for the minister to do now is to find solutions to the plight of the victims who are in his constituency and not hold on to a branch that has dried up. In other words needless accusations will not repair the damage caused.
Instead of shifting attention from the core of the problem and chastising ghost saboteurs who he thinks are his political opponents and are responsible for this vice, why does not he use his influence to get the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to construct modern markets to replace the planks and cardboards used as market stall?
I guess Nii Lantey Vanderpuye being an obedient servant without facts took a cue from the sitting president who did not hesitate to assert that he would not rule out the nefarious acts of saboteurs at the time the fires were constantly ravaging other markets.
The president and his cohorts should spare some of us their pre-emptive views when investigations are underway. We should allow state funded institutions to have the liberty to function other than they arrogating onto themselves expertise they have not.
The Member of Parliament from Odododiodio must know that a nation is not built on suspicion but on sound economic management based timeless policies. So I call on the M.P. to unclad his clothe of baseless accusations and stick to the reality at hand by finding a lasting solution to problems confronting those poor market women.
Undoubtedly, these market women deserve commendation due to their contribution towards national development. Some have supported and are still supporting their families with the little they earn. So for them to lose their wares to fire only for their M.P. to apportion blame when there seem to be no solution in sight to sustain them in their time of weary is very unfortunate.
The reality now is when you take a tour of the major markets in Accra, one is confronted with poor nature of the market in terms of the materials used in erecting the stalls. The basic raw materials are planks of wood and in some cases straw mats are used as roofing sheets.
In addition, pavements are taken over not by pedestrians but by petty traders. Stalls are haphazardly dotted at the full glare of city authorities while electrical wires are poorly and illegally connected. Traders cook openly with sub standard gas cylinders predisposing the market to inevitable fire outbreaks.
Now the all knowing Nii Lantey Vanderpuye should come again. If these copious improprieties are prevalent and the market is torched, do you blame political saboteurs or those tasked with ensuring that sanity prevails in these markets? For once, let us be serious with governance in this country because the meat of good governance is not baseless accusations but a function of proactive drives aimed at transforming the lives of the citizenry positively.
It is time our leaders applied common sense in solving some of our basic problems. By this I mean no disrespect to any particular Ghanaian leader. But then you do not need to be a genius before you can decipher that the real problems in our markets are as a result of poor planning and negative human induced practices. That is why it becomes very difficult for fire fighters to gain access to these markets in the event of fire outbreaks.
That aside, the magnification of every incident within the spectrum of politics is really killing this country. And it is not as if our leaders are not aware of this. In fact, they are the worst offenders. Criminals perpetrate crimes, people loot state funds, and the only thing they have to do is to put on a political colour and they are saved. And it appears this fire disaster has taken a political dimension colouration.
In this regard, the police become helpless because the officer charged with unravelling the truth is also somewhat afraid to stepping on big political toes. The over politicisation of issues has degenerated to the extent that party functionaries seem to be more powerful than state officials. That is why NDC executives in the Suhum constituency can vehemently kick against the re-nomination of Samuel .F. Kwabi as DCE because according them he does not award contracts to party activists. (See Blows in Suhum NDC over contract- ghanaweb.com-June 4)
As it stands, it is obvious the non-politicisation of issues threatening our survival must be upheld in all situations. A contract must be awarded on the basis of merit and not according party affiliation. If not for mischief, why would Nii Lantey Vanderpuye politicise a national disaster like fire?
Care must be taken by our leaders not to unduly blame opponents or non existing saboteurs when they have no clue as to what might be the cause of any national disaster. Propaganda as I see it was clearly exhibited by Nii Lamptey Vanderpuye to diffuse the thick dark smoke of indifference surrounding him. He should be fair to his conscience, constituents and the good citizens of Ghana and not be economical with the truth.
AUTHOR’S NAME: OKOFO-DARTEY SAMUEL E-MAIL: sodesq2000@yahoo.com