THE story of the sinful towns of Sodom and Gomorra is well documented in the Bible. The two towns could not produce a single righteous soul who could have saved them from destruction, so they had to be wiped away from the surface of the earth with fire.
Somehow, Sodom and Gomorra have refused to go and in some strange way the two towns have emerged from the ashes of old and metamorphosed into a single town. One can just imagine the strength of one town combining the evil forces of two previous cities.
This is our version of Sodom and Gomorra, a sprawling settlement without law or order, nestling on the banks of the River Odaw which drains into the Korle Lagoon in Accra, the nation’s capital city.
Like all great things, Sodom and Gomorra had its humble beginnings. It started as a rest camp for traders who travelled from the northern parts of the country and the forest belt to sell their farm produce, mostly yam, plantain and vegetables, at the Agbogbloshie and Makola markets.
These were people who, at most, spent a few days in the city selling their wares and then returned to where they came from. For temporary accommodation, therefore, they depended mainly on a few wooden structures that could easily be dismantled when it became necessary.
With time, these traders started to spend more days in Accra and, therefore, the accommodation structures began to take a more permanent outlook. Each articulated truck from the north brought not only foodstuffs but also new batches of settlers for a place that was gradually losing its temporary status and becoming an emerging township.
As would be expected, with the passage of time new alliances were made and cohabitation could not be avoided, just as marriage and the bearing of children.
Out of the rest camp sprouted a new neighbourhood sharing boundaries with the areas around Korle-Bu, Korle Wokon, Tudu, Adedenkpo and Swalaba. Other migrant workers and those doing odd jobs in the city centre found their way to the wooden shacks of Sodom and Gomorra for rest, recreation and procreation.
The new township was called Sodom and Gomorra. I do not know what informed the founders to choose that name. May be they considered themselves a forgotten or even rejected lot who had decided to join forces to make the best out of life, since in unity lies strength.
But the inhabitants of the new Sodom and Gomorra have several things in common with their Biblical forebears.
The city authorities were never alarmed by these developments. Apparently they thought when the time came it would only take a few hours to clear the squatters and create space for modern development.
How wrong they were!
Today, Sodom and Gomorra is not only a blot, dimming the beauty of the capital, but a heavy albatross hanging perilously around the neck of city planners. The settlement should have gone away long ago for the Korle Lagoon Restoration Project but nobody dared to move the inhabitants.
Sodom and Gomorra is not only a habitation for traders and workers and job seekers; it is now a breeding ground for all vices and criminals who will make the Biblical Sodom and Gomorra appear to be monasteries.
People who came in trickles many years ago as squatters are now demanding compensation or relocation. They even managed to pool resources to pay legal fees to battle city authorities in court over what they considered an attempt to evict them from their God-given home. That is where carelessness, irresponsibility, corruption and opportunistic politics have brought us.
The same apathy shown by city planners in the case of Sodom and Gomorra was exhibited in several parts of the city. Through that slums such as Agege, Ecomog and Abuja have sprung up, feeding the capital with filth and crime, with residents there also staking their own claim to their right of existence in Accra.
Accra has become a huge jungle of wooden and metal structures dotted with careless abandon at every available space. Our city roads and streets have become vibrant commercial centres and markets have sprung up everywhere.
Like the Korle Lagoon Restoration Project, many projects in Accra and other places have stalled as a result of the illegal activities of squatters.
Any attempt to bring sanity into the system is met with resistance from a new breed of human rights activists who have introduced a new phrase, “human face”, into their vocabulary.
But can we blame them? City authorities who must act to nip these activities in their embryonic stages sometimes tacitly turn a blind eye to developments, either because of personal gain or for fear of courting the wrath of superior officers.
Politicians have not helped matters. In fact, it can be argued that they have played more prominent roles in the lawlessness that has swallowed up the city. It seems the allure of office has blinded them to the importance of orderliness and the damage being done to this country by lawless squatters and street hawkers.
They are prepared to tolerate the breach of the law only if that will win them the votes of the people. You may then ask: What do they want political power for, if not for the betterment of society?
The bitter experience of Stanley Nii Adjiri-Blankson when he attempted, a few years ago, to decongest the city centre of street hawkers is a clear case for reference.
By now we should realise that a market is a market, while a street is a street. To allow the former to take over the latter is tantamount to lawlessness and Accra cannot run away from this disease.
The tendency to allow things to degenerate into chaos before acting has never solved our problems. Already we have raised the alarm bells about what is happening at the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange where a street market is gradually building up.
So far there is no sign that the city authorities are in control of affairs. Unfortunately, by the time they are jostled into consciousness, any attempt to take correctional measures would be too late.
We have witnessed the erection of structures on water courses, with devastating consequences even at the slightest drizzle. We have watched helplessly as traders take over the city streets, including our ceremonial routes.
Our railway lines have become unsafe because over the years the authorities of the Ghana Railway Company have allowed individuals to grab land close to the rails, contrary to laid down regulations. There are allegations that some of these squatters actually bought land from some officials of the GRC. If that is proved to be true, then it will be a manifestation of the depth to which we have sunk in flouting the laws of this country.
Sodom and Gomorra will continue to haunt us and serve as a reminder that we have a big job on hand to restore normalcy in our way of life.
Today, it will take more than just political will and legal authority to evict some of the squatters from their strongholds. This is because even with the law on our side, we will be too weak to fight, since at every turn we have to give our actions a human face.
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