Wednesday, September 16, 2009

More 'Let them eat cake!' in Ghana

King Tackie Tawiah III, one of the traditional rulers of downtown Accra, is in favor of evicting squatters from Sodom and Gomorrah. That's the news from the Daily Guide. "Let the government take the boldness of steps in ensuring that Sodom and Gomorrah is rid of the squatters," he told the newspaper.

2 comments:

b.wevera said...

The more I read about the exploits of squatters, the more I am infuriated by the word "Council".

It seems unfair and hypocritical for municipal councillors to declare that they are representatives of the community.

The same thing has come to pass in Kerala, India where sewage and garbage pickup are the lowest priority next to erecting brand new fish-market facilities. Many of the Councillors in Kerala are from the town, but are told what to do by a government representative of the state.

The trickle-down policies from the elite should be rethought. How does a politician, or king for that matter, know about the needs and priorities of the working class?

Instead, maybe the state or king will listen if they chose to put their ears to the ground, to listen from grass-movements that occur from the bottom-up.

My thanks, again.

b.wevera said...

Just as a note: A wonderful source of short documentaries is the 'Dispatches' series. There are multiple volumes with 5-6 short docs in each volume. The docs range from the squatters in Mexico City to Vulture Funds that exploit developing countries to the 2005 SAP-induced famine in Niger.

Good background sources.