COVID-19 Food Distribution: Klottey Korle Resident Writes Open Letter to Accra Mayor

WAKE UP MR. MAYOR, THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE SLEEPING ON THE JOB – OPEN LETTER TO THE MAYOR OF ACCRA

Dear Mr. Adjei Sowah,

I just read your response to a video in which the Honourable Member of Parliament (MP) for Klottey Korle, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, alleges that vulnerable people within her constituency are being asked to produce party (NPP) membership cards before being given food.

Mr. Mayor, to say that I am very disappointed at your response will be an understatement, and in the following paragraphs, I will explain why.

In the first instance Mr. Mayor, commonsense should have directed you to first investigate the assertion by the MP before coming out with your thoughtless response. In doing so, you could have reached out to the MP, and together with her go on the ground to ascertain the facts. That would have given you an accurate and fair picture of the real situation on the ground. But alas, how can commonsense prevail when you’re in a hurry to please your pay master to keep you in your undeserved position?

Mr. Adjei Sowah, did you in your response say that Dr. Zanetor Rawlings, has been “missing all this while,… and just resurfaced out of the blue to seek attention”? This unfortunate comment from you clearly justifies my claim above of your desire to please your paymaster. You have just exposed yourself as being dangerously ignorant, and undeserving of your position. If you had been on top of issues, you’d realise that Zanetor has long been at the forefront of this covid-19 struggle whilst even at a time when government was still sleeping on the job. I will enlighten on a few of the good doctor’s interventions to ameliorate the effort of the pandemic on her constituents.

1. During the week from the 9th – 13th of March, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings embarked on a Constituency-wide door-to-door sensitization and providing her constituents with practical tips to minimize the risk of exposure to covid-19. You probably were dozing whilst she was on the streets educating her constituents.

2. On the 13th of March, the MP donated disinfectant soap to the mosques in her Constituency to disinfect the floors and mats to reduce the risk of infection. She also used the opportunity to educate them on ways to reduce their risk to exposure.

3. On Tuesday, the 17th of March, Zanetor donated some bleach, disinfectants and soap to the various health facilities in her Constituency, namely the Adabraka Polyclinic, Osu Maternity Home, and the Tema Station clinic.

4. Dr. Zanetor Rawlings also released a video on March 17 educating the general public on proper handwash techniques to reduce exposure to covid-19.

5. The MP also sponsored the making of fliers educating the public of preventive measure to take against covid-19. These fliers were also distributed throughout the Klottey Korle Constituency.

6. On March 20, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings donated Veronica buckets, disinfectants and soap to the Adabraka, Odawna and Osu Markets. She also utilised the opportunity to educate the market women on proper handwash techniques.

7. The Member of Parliament also donated Veronica buckets, disinfectants and soap to the brilliant auto-mechanics, welders, electricians and vehicle experts at Odawna Garages. Again she took time to sensitise them on ways to minimise the risk of exposure to covid-19.

8. Same day, 20th March, she donated similar items (V-buckets etc) to the artisans at the Arts Centre.

9. The desire to help the less privileged to cope during these challenging times led the MP to provide over two thousand loaves of bread, chocolate powder and bags of satchet water on 3rd April to the vulnerable in her Constituency.

10. She followed up on that by providing food for inmates of cells in all the police stations in her Constituency.

I can go on and on, but the above will suffice for now. I hope you can see how you have disgraced yourself with your unwarranted response. The good people of Klottey-Korle and Ghanaians at large are seeing the good works of the hardworking and dedicated MP and no amount of dust you throw at her will derail her from providing good leadership to her people.

Mr. Sleeping Mayor, if you’d taken time to investigate the MP’s comments, you would have realised that several people within her Constituency who had suffered such ill-treatment, me included from NPP party assigns corroborated her statement. Are you telling the world that you do not know that the relief items are being given to NPP party members to distribute, and they’re in turn giving them only to their members? But, do we really expect anything different from a mayor sleeping on the job? Wake up from your slumber Mr. Adjei Sowah.

Again Mr. Mayor, if you’d done the needful, you’d realise Dr. Zanetor Rawlings made some very useful suggestions. Amongst them being the proper zoning of the areas and involving the Unit Committee members in getting food to those who really need it. However, you were too consumed by your infantile desire to do damage control at the pleasure of your failed boss that you lost the plot.

Instead of being in a hurry to demonise the visionary Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, I’d advise you to take a thing or two from her admonition, and use it to improve your (government) response to the covid-19 pandemic.

I am quite curious though. The Klottey-Korle Constituency does not fall within your Assembly so why the rush to respond to the MP when you obviously do not know what you are responding to? Did somebody above your pay grade use you to save face?

COVID-19 is not just a health threat, but also a national security threat, so this is not the time for baseless partisanship as the Honourable MP stated. It is time to adopt a nationalist and all-hands-on-deck approach to solving this crisis. I pray we do not get to a point where hungry people out of a desperate need to survive will take the law into their own hands.

Mr. Mayor wake-up, you seem to be sleeping on the job.

Thank you.

From:

A Concerned Klottey-Korle Resident