The Happy Morning Show (HMS) team led by Samuel Eshun has given the Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Albert Boakye Okyere an ultimatum to respond to their calls to fix a bridge in Freetown a suburb of Ashaiman that is claiming innocent lives.
Speaking on HMS in a rant, Samuel said: ‘’we will continue to demand accountability from the Ashaiman MCE, we have tried to talk to him on the show since the issue started and he has been playing hide and seek with us; refusing to pick our calls. If this continues we will petition the president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.’’
Fati Shaibu-Ali also recounted , when producers call the MCE during the show he never picks but calls back after the show.
‘’When we call him, he does not pick our calls but he will reach out to us after the show feigning ignorance. We are going take this matter up until there is a logical resolution of the issue and the people of Freetown Ashaiman stop watching their children die unnecessarily’’ she stated.
The story so far
In a developing story that started on the ‘Pae Mu Ka’ segment of the maiden edition of the Happy Morning show, a listener sent a voice note complaining about how children and the aged fall in a stream nicknamed ‘Gbeemi’ which literally means ‘fall in’ in GA.
As promised producers of the show visited the Freetown community to ascertain the veracity of the voice note and it was confirmed that indeed, several lives have been lost in the ‘Gbeemi’ stream.
Suweiba Fuseini a resident of Ashaiman confirmed to Isaac Kpogeh the producer of HMS that the stream has claimed lives.
‘’When it rains the stream over flows and flood our homes destroying lives and properties. Ten years ago and last year were the worst flooding we experienced in Freetown because of the ‘Gbeemi’ stream.
We have spoken to the MCE severally to no avail’’ she narrated.
An Intervention from a resident
‘’A man in this community called Teye Bazooka singlehandedly constructed a bridge, we used the bridge for a while but that bridge also collapsed. The MCE then brought a heap of sand and some woods that he is coming to construct the bridge. We were all shocked because what Bazooka did with metal have been swept away what will a wooden bridge do for us? He should get assistance from government and find a lasting solution to the perennial flooding and the unnecessary deaths in the community.
But he hasn’t returned to fix the bridge and we are here still losing our loved ones because of the ‘Gbeemi’ stream. Today if someone falls sick we cannot take the person to the clinic because the clinic is on the other side of the bridge. All we need is a bridge to save lives’’ she added.
The Pae Mu Ka segment is an on air series where listeners send in whatsApp voice notes talking about political, economic and other social issues affecting them in their communities. This is meant to strengthen the relationship between a Government and citizens by encouraging citizen participation in governance a priority for democracy.
Join the trio, Samuel Eshun, Fati Shaibu-Ali and Raymond Nyamador on Happy Morning Show every weekday (Monday to Friday) 5:30am to 9:00am.
By: Bridget Mensah