Parliament: NDC, NPP MPs ‘Fight’ over Keta Sea Erosion

The Deputy Majority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Efutu constituency, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has come face-to-face with with his colleague Rockson-Nelson Etsey Dafeamekpor over a controversial sand weaning picture.

The two lawyers nearly turned parliament into a boxing ring as they hustled each other over an images purported to be people weaning sand at the Keta beach.

During a news conference on the recent sea Erosion in some parts of Ketu South, Keta, Anlo and South Tongu Constituencies in the coastal area of the Volta Region, the MP for Efutu said residents of Keta are the cause of the erosion due to sand weaning.

He also accused MPs from the Volta Region who earlier raised the issues at a media briefing days ago of “engaging in propaganda without speaking to the fact”.

He displayed a picture of several tipper trucks lined up on a coast line loading sands.

He used that to demonstrate that the people of Keta are engaged in serious sand winning business at the beach.

This accusations, however, did not go well with, some members of the minority Caucus who were at the time standing by. The MPs from Elembele and South Dayi, Emmanuel Kofi-Amarh Bual and Rockson-Nelson Etsey Dafeamekpor challenged him to provide the source of the picture.

Dafeamekpor collected the picture from Afenyo-Markin but before he could get to the podium to respond to Afenyo-Markin and Dr. Stephen Amoah, another NPP MP forcibly took the picture away from him in the manner that triggered an unpleasant scene.

Dr. Amoah again attempted to disrupt his address which resulted in some heated exchanges for about five minutes.

The south Dayi MP who later addressed the media on the substantive issue debunked all the allegations of the deputy majority Leader.

According to him “sea erosion is caused when the sea level rises couple with other climate change conditions”.

He said, sand weaning is not the main cause, though it could be one the factors, but “sand weaning in Keta can’t lead to sea erosion in Ada, Pramprah, Cape Coast, Takoradi, Axim and other places on Ghana Coast”.

“The picture he displayed is not the reflection of our coast line. Our coast line from Aflao to Anyanui do not have bushes as seen in his picture.

“For my colleague on the other side to say, over 4,000 Ghanaians who are displaced by the sea is caused by sand weaning is unfortunate,” he stated.

By Edzorna Francis Mensah