Ga Indigenes kick against Sodom and Gomorrah

......Say inhabitants must relocate to their various regions

Indigenes of the Ga State residing outside Ghana have kick against the name “Sodom and Gomorrah” on their land. They claim the name depicts negative values of the Ga land, which is affecting the State morally.

The group urged the government to collaborate with the Ga Mantse, who is the custodian of the land, to come out with a directive for all inhabitants of the area to relocate to their various towns and villages. They said the continuous presence of the squatters was impeding the development of the area, especially the Korle Lagoon Restoration Project (KLERP). These were made when the Ga Dangme group in Europe paid a courtesy call on the Ga Mantse at his Palace in Accra.

Acting as the Linguist of the group, the President of the French branch, Robert Laryea, noted, “outside Ghana when an immigrant is without documentation of the said country he is living in, this person is deported to his country of origin without any relocation whatsoever.”

He said the relocation of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah to Ajenkotoku should be ruled out, because these people migrated from somewhere, and must be relocated there without delay. He said the continuous existence of the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah, had retarded a lot of progress of that area, and the area was now a den of thieves and other vices. Mr. Laryea said, “Biblically, the people of Ga migrated from Israel, and Sodom and Gomorrah being attached to us, doesn’t auger well for us.”

The Italian Branch President noted that the association of such names with slums, such as Babylon, was marring the dignity of their state. He charged the Ga Mantse to ensure that pragmatic efforts are taken to restore the dignity of the Ga state, adding that the illegal inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah be deported to their villages, to pave way for developmental projects.

Mr. Laryea emphasised that the area, which is mad up of mainly wooden structures, sometimes are set ablaze by unknown persons who wish to take over the lands. He said, “prostitution and armed robbery is very rampant in the area, as in biblical Sodom and Gomorrah, and with most of them residing there.”

According to him, a tour by some members of the group to the area revealed that there was poor sanitation prevailing, with children of school age loitering around in only pants. He said the popular saying in the Ga language “Ablekuma aba kuma wo,” literally portraying the warm hospitality of the people Ga Dangme land, had been abused, causing a great nuisance in the region, with the land being considered as one of the dirtiest towns in the world.

King Tackie Tawiah, Ga Mantse, explained the that land on which Sodom and Gomorrah was sited, belongs to the Korle We Family of Ga Mashie, and over the years, successive governments have lacked the political will to eject them from the place.

He promised the group the stool would team up with the government to ensure that the residents are relocated to their various towns and villages. Old Fadama, which is Sodom and Gomorrah and now the hotbed of Ghana politics, was a race course for horses during the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) during the reign of Hon. E. T. Mensah, who was then Mayor of Accra.

The area, after the relocation of the people of the old Fadama to their present day New Fadama (Abeka), for the creation of the ecological project, became vacant, and the Accra City Council, now Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), used it as a parking lot for tractors. Gradually, onion sellers from the northern part of the country have started pitching camp and building wooden structures there. The area, which was inhabited 15 years ago, has stalled the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP), is dominantly occupied by Kayayei (female porters) and males from the north part of this country.

Source: Naa Norley & Ceri Isfryn |