The Minority Chief Whip Kwame Agbodza has criticized President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the “you don’t vote for me” comment he made when he visited the areas in the Volta Region affected by flood due to the Akosombo Dam spillage.
He said the president’s comments smacked of mockery.
“We did not bring this catastrophe upon ourselves. Where is your sense of dignity in this time of tribulation of our people, President Akufo Addo only came to mock us and rub it in,” Agbodza who is also Member of Parliament for Adaklu in the Volta Region told TV3’s Komla Kluste on Tuesday, October 16.
President Akufo-Addo, while interacting with the people on Monday, indicated that he is president for all Ghanaians irrespective of whether or not they voted for him.
The President assured the chiefs and the people of Mepe and the other towns in the North, South, and Central Tongu areas in the Volta Region, a stronghold of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), that the government is going to do whatever it can within its powers to alleviate their plight.
He said “When I took the oath of office as President, I took the oath of office as President for every single individual in Ghana, of all the people in Ghana, all districts whether they voted for me or not, once I have taken the oath of office I am the President of all the people.
“So Togbe, you and your elders, I want you to understand that when something like this happens and the government acts, government is acting for Ghanaians.
“I came here because Ghanaians are having difficulties and suffering and it is my responsibility to try and help. If it is the question of counting who votes for me and who doesn’t vote for me I shouldn’t be here because you don’t vote for me but that is not my concern.
“I came here this afternoon to express my sympathies and to commiserate with all the people in the Mepe area, I chose Mepe because this is the area that has been most affected.
“We have to also be very grateful for the work of VRA, the preparation they have been making over the years in such a situation, the simulation exercise, and all the things they have been doing to prepare for this including the sensitization. Because of the good that they have done up until now, by the grace of God, not one single individual has lost his life in this crisis,” he said.
He stressed, “Whatever it is within the powers of the government that can be done to alleviate this situation, it is going to be done.”
The flooding has impacted education, health, mobility, shelter, and access to food for the children in the affected communities.