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Former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) Justice Emile Short says city authorities should be held fully responsible for slums in the country.
According to him, one key role of the authorities is to clamp down on illegal structures even before they spring up anywhere in town.

“But what we are seeing in this country is that these officials are never held accountable,” the retired Supreme Court justice noted.

The demolition recently of parts of Ghana’s biggest slum, Sodom and Gomorrah, has plunged slum dwellers and city authorities including the police into a collision course.

Residents of Old Fadama – official name for Sodom and Gomorrah – marched to the State House on Monday, June 22 to register their anger at the demolition, which began on Saturday.

There are slums springing up near the Airport Residential Area and along the Tema Motorway, TV3 has observed.

This many including Justice Short wonder if city authorities are aware of.

“When these structures were being constructed, where were the officials?” he asked.

“Let’s assume that a permit was acquired or no permit was acquired. When the structures were going on, what were the relevant authorities doing. Were they asleep?” he said about the illegal structures that contribute to the flooding of the capital city.

Some displaced Sodom and Gomorrah residents have since returned to their hometowns while government is making arrangements to resettle the rest at Pokuase.

Their goods and products from the north are expected to be traded at Adjen Kotoku in the Ga West District.