Amnesty International Ghana is alarmed at the untimely and insensitive demolition exercise at Old Fadama (Bimbila Station) carried out by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).

The demotion has rendered hundreds of people homeless at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the presidential directives for partial lock down and the need for social distancing, therefore, failed to protect the most vulnerable Ghanaian against the virus.

Robert Akoto Amoafo, Director Amnesty International, Ghana condemning the exercise, said: “This is the time we expect all government institutions and agencies to work together to support government’s effort to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A demolition by these government agencies at the height of fighting a pandemic is uncalled for and puts into question government’s commitment to provide the needed protection for the most vulnerable people in this slum.”

 Mr Akoto Amoafo said this during Amnesty International Ghana’s visit to the slum (Old Fadama) where the demolition took place.

According to him, all governments and other actors involved in responding to the COVID-19 epidemic must ensure that international human rights laws and standards are at the centre of all responses to COVID-19, in order to best protect public health and support people who are most at risk of adverse impacts.

“We, therefore, call on the AMA and the Ministry of Sanitation to immediately halt further demolition at Old Fadama or make alternative arrangements to relocate the residents before continuing any demolition in the community.

“They should as soon as possible provide a temporal place to lodge the residents who have been rendered homeless by the current demolition and to ensure their safety and more importantly from the possibility of contracting or spreading the disease,” he urged.

Government should ensure that all government agencies and institutions take into consideration the current COVID 19 pandemic in their efforts to implement government’s strategies and plans. By Bernice Bessey