The victims of flooding in northern Ghana are still crying out for help, three weeks after the water started rising, sweeping away their crops and homes.
Daniel Moro, his two wives and eight children have not had a decent meal for more than a week. ”There is no food for the family to eat because all the crops have been destroyed. So there’s nothing — absolutely nothing,” he said with desperation in his voice.
Three weeks ago, Moro was enjoying a quiet retirement. Life was good. He had three houses and a vast swathe of land on which he cultivated maize, millet and groundnuts.
Then the rains came. Several days of torrential rains filled up all the rooms in Moro’s mud houses, weakening the structure and, eventually, causing them to collapse. He was not at home when the buildings came down and he therefore escaped injury. But his youngest daughter, who is sixteen, sustained a deep cut on her forehead.
”She cannot go to hospital because the money is not there,” he said.
With their houses gone, Moro and his family had no choice but to put up with dozens of other displaced people in a school block. The storms blew away the roof, so they now sleep with no roof over their heads.
Moro was uncomfortable with sharing space with so many other people, so a few days after the floods he decided to erect a makeshift shelter out of sticks. ”All 11 of us sleep in a room meant for two people. I have to stay standing up or seated so that others can lie on the floor, but such is life,” he said.
He is just one of thousands of people whose lives have been completely upended by the flooding that has hit the whole of the north of the country. The Ghanaian government says more than 30 people have been killed and more than 260 000 displaced.
The torrential rains and floods that have ravaged sub-Saharan Africa from the Atlantic coast to the Indian Ocean are believed to be the worst in three decades, killing close to 300 people and leaving an estimated 650 000 in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
A United Nations team that has just concluded a tour of the area affected in Ghana cast some doubts on the government’s figures, saying they might have exaggerated the scale of the disaster.
But Ghana government officials argue that the UN team only came in late when the flood waters were receding, and that they missed the worst of the devastation. Deputy Information Minister Frank Agyekum also said some of those displaced have not been identified because they are staying with relatives who were not so badly affected.
What is not in doubt, however, is that the floods have destroyed lives and property and help is needed — fast.
A few days after the floods, President John Kufuor visited the area and declared it a disaster zone. The government announced a relief package of more than $67-million for the affected areas to purchase medicines, building materials and food for the flood victims and to repair damaged infrastructure.
But in Nayaginia, in one of the worst-affected areas, no one questioned had actually received any aid.
Thomas Asigri complained that weeks after he was identified as a victim of the flood, no help has been forthcoming. ”If helping us means we have to wait for the rest of our lives, so be it,” he said. ”If they don’t come, my family and I will perish. I am aware that they are sharing the items out among their family members.”
The Kasena Nankena district chief executive, Emmanuel Chegeweh, dismissed the allegations. He said that his team is almost done with the distribution of the items and that those who have not received any supplies are people who failed to give their names to officials.
”We have stressed that people will not benefit if they do not register,” he said, adding that those who did register but who are yet to receive supplies should wait for their turn.
But people like Moro have said they can’t wait any longer and have decided they are better off helping themselves. He said he would try to raise the $200 he needs to rebuild his mud houses. He is also praying that the flood waters will recede quickly so that he can start to plant the few seeds he has left.
”I am suffering. But I’m trying to see if I can get back my life to normal again by trying to plant some millet — that is if the rains do not come again,” he said. — Sapa-AFP