Sodom and Gomorrah, from political football to good policy decision

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot

September 8, 2009

The cruelest thing most do to people living in squalid conditions, like the environment at “Sodom and Gomorrah,” is to allow them to continue to stay in that squalor.

And that was exactly what happened some years back when the NPP administration attempted to relocate the denizens of Sodom and Gomorrah to an environmentally better site.

Sadly, neither the Christian nor the Muslim Councils, which recently have become very vocal on political matters in Ghana, had nothing firm to say on the moral issue underpinning the existence of Sodom and Gomorrah then. 

And for all, we know these religious bodies are still silent about this same issue now.

However, if the two councils have already stated any outrage about this moral matter before and we, the ordinary citizens of Ghana, had failed to heed their advice, we will love to hear that guidance again.

Do these councils support the NDC government's announced intention to relocate the denizens of “Sodom and Gomorrah” or not?

Meanwhile, as we wait for the response, credit must be given to the NDC government for the decision to move the denizens of “Sodom and Gomorrah” from the current location to a better site.

Unfortunately, the previous NPP government had recognized the need to do this mass move earlier but to no avail.  The wait between the NPP’s recognition and the current NDC government’s decision to implement the policy has been too long and thus cruel.

The first attempt by the NPP to move the people of “Sodom and Gomorrah” was thwarted by political reasons.  What we heard from the NDC was that their decision was based on "social justice;” howbeit, however, a curious argument for stopping a policy that sought to improve the quality of life for the poor denizens of the affected location.

If living under the squalid conditions of Sodom and Gomorrah, with all the obvious social and economic hardships and ills, is preferable to the temporary exercise of forced relocation to a better location, then we need to redefine “social justice.”

Otherwise, we must spend time noting the plight of the people of “Sodom and Gomorrah” which is obvious.  And it is a terrible type of existence that a caring government and any concerned religious council should also note and abhor.

Despite the earlier obfuscation of the matter by the NDC, it may not be too late now.  But we must detest the self-congratulations the party is giving itself now for the decision.  If it is worth doing it now, why not then?

 The good thing to note now is that the NDC party, which once vociferously opposed the move, is now in government and is supporting the move.  It should, therefore, get on with the task.

The exercise will evict "more than 40,000 squatters at Sodom and Gomorrah without any form of compensation or relocation as earlier envisaged;” reported the Daily Graphic.

The measure may be draconian.  But it is the needed "social justice." 

People out of the little convenience they get in living in “Sodom and Gomorrah’ now may protest.  But this place is still an eyesore for the nation and the conditions there are very harmful to the very people who reside there now. 

Therefore, the order to move is a sound policy.  It will improve things for all.  Not only will the targeted community benefit, but the entire city of Accra Metropolitan area's citizenry will also as the removal will spare all the social and health hazards that the actuality of “Sodom and Gomorrah” has promoted.

Once the move is done, the country will also be rid of the “social justice” political football for elections to come.  And regardless of how strong the “social justice” argument has so far been for votes, one will not forget the risks that were at the old location, and the benefits to come after the removal will be seen as far more advantageous.

For real “social justice” to happen, “Sodom and Gomorrah” must disappear as the vulnerabilities that this slum life offers are replaced by a salutary environment in the area that will offer renewal for hopes and aspirations for the entire Accra city area.

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey has indicated that “squatters at the slum, who are sharply split along a complex mixture of political, ethnic and chieftaincy lines, also engage in illicit acquisition of small arms and light weapons with which they engage in periodic clashes, often with tragic consequences,” as reported by the Daily Graphic.

The Daily Graphic also gave the history of “Sodom and Gomorrah” as starting as a “shelter for some displaced Northerners fleeing the Kokomba and the Nanumba war in the 1980s.”

This happened at a time when Ghana was under a military government, a government that used force to take over the country, and quell all kinds of rebellion and dissent, except when it came to using the same force to stop the Kokombas and the Nanumbas from fighting.

Coincidentally, the current NDC government happens to be an offshoot of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) of Flt. Lt. Rawlings.  This a regime that came to power by a coup.  They could have used the same force to settle the “Sodom and Gomorrah” issue. 

However, the PNDC had a convenient ideology that spoke to the people of “Sodom and Gomorrah.”   The dogma appealed to the powerless, that  “we not go sit make them cheat we.”  That said, the regime couldn’t summon up the courage to stop the formation of the slum.  It needed the foot soldiers from the slum for Rawlings’ revolution.

In the early 2000s, the NPP regime summoned the courage to start clearing "Sodom and Gomorrah."  But the effort was fought against by one Issah Iddid Abass and others who took the case to the High Court to prevent eviction.

The plaintiffs based their right to stall eviction on the grounds of “social and economic justice” provided for by the 1992 Constitution. 

But in doing so, they also admitted that they were squatters. They lost the case in court.  However, the new NPP regime failed to pursue wholesale eviction.  “Sodom and Gomorrah” would stand despite the court victory.

Just four acres of space within the city of Accra, but “Sodom and Gomorrah” accounts for a disproportionate crime and social ills emanating from the entire city.

Poor sanitation at “Sodom and Gomorrah” impacts areas around the Korle Lagoon so much so that it has stalled the work of the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP), instituted to revive lagoon life.

“The project, which started a little over a decade ago, has not been able to achieve its objectives of restoring the lagoon to its former state, where fish could be harvested, because it is continuously filled with garbage, sawdust, and human excreta;” all on the account of our poor citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The idea for restoration of the lagoon originated back in 1965 when President Nkrumah’s government decided to dredge and turn it into an inner harbor area of business and leisure, where leisure boats and yachts can sail to and dock.

It might be interesting to know now that the concept for an inner harbor on the lagoon was conceived before a similar one for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor complex was completed in the 70s by the Rouse Company of Maryland, USA. 

Today, the Baltimore Inner Harbor has proven to be a highly successful business and tourist enclave, a purpose that Nkrumah had in mind for the city of Accra.  

For lack of foresight, the dredgers on the Korle Lagoon were abruptly dismantled and dredging stopped after the 1966 coup. 

In the stead of this debacle came the growth of "Sodom and Gomorrah," accompanied by the false assumption of “social justice” for the poor denizens of this location.  Rather than proving just, the squalor and filth that has become the emblem of this place, in some sense, has also unfortunately become the metaphor for progress in Ghana.

“Sodom and Gomorrah” owes its existence to wrong policy decisions.  Now a removal by force, justified by law and the moral imperative behind a true social justice construct, should be the approach.  A removal is justified.

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher, www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, September 8, 2009

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