Tears streamed down her face, sweat glistened on her brow, and her baby was strapped securely to her back as Ms Rachel stood confused and distraught in the middle of her compound.
Beside her, her two-year-old child played innocently with already packed belongings, unaware of the chaos unfolding.
Without warning, her home was marked for demolition. She had barely stepped outside when she was ordered to vacate immediately.
“There was no notice,” she lamented, fighting back tears. “I would have left if I’d been informed. I have small children. Where are we supposed to go?”
Rachel and her family have lived in the area for over three years. She claimed they believed their residence did not fall within the Ramsar red zone identified for demolition.
“This place doesn’t even flood,” she stated. “Now, my husband, our three children, and I are homeless. Are we not Ghanaians? Don’t we deserve to be treated with dignity?”
Her despair was briefly eased when the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ms Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, visited and promised to assist the family with accommodation. She instructed them to pause their packing and remain in their room while alternatives were arranged.
Elsewhere across the Sakumono Ramsar site, the demolition exercise was in full swing.
Although it delayed due to logistical issues and final demarcations, several structures were flattened by late afternoon. Residents, construction workers, and caretakers scrambled to retrieve what they could wood, cement, bricks, televisions, and furniture before bulldozers advanced.
While some watched in stunned silence, others shouted in anger at the authorities. Years of effort, savings, and hope crumbled into piles of debris. Dreams of homeownership were lost in moments.
Authorities, however, defended the operation.
The demolition, led by the Greater Accra Regional Minister in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), aims to reclaim encroached Ramsar lands and prevent development in flood-prone zones.
The minister emphasised that the move is meant to reduce flood vulnerability, protect the environment, and enhance public safety.
NADMO Director General, Major Dr Joseph BikanyiKuyon, described the first day of the exercise as “very successful,” noting that no physical confrontations had occurred.
“People were only making their usual noise, but work went on successfully,” he stated, adding that, “The same people resisting today will one day applaud the President.”
BY CECILIA YADA LAGBA
