John Mahama is appealing to President Nana Akufo-Addo to take the initiative to lead other African countries in mobilizing support for victims of Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa.
He said in the past, the country had shown leadership in supporting emergency efforts during disasters in other African countries but that appears not to be the case presently.
In a Facebook post, John Mahama cited his government’s efforts in 2014 in supporting countries affected by the deadly Ebola outbreak, noting that it would be “a great sense of pride” if President Akufo-Addo toe the same line to help alleviate the challenges the countries affected by Cyclone Idai are going through.
Read John Mahama’s post below:
It’s been almost a week since Cyclone Idai slammed into the Southern part of Africa. Watching the humanitarian crisis unfolding, following the landfall of this category 2 cyclone, it shows that our continent is totally unprepared for the extremities associated with climate change manifesting around our planet.
Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi have all declared emergencies and appealed for humanitarian assistance. African countries must quickly take the lead to mobilise a humanitarian response in support of our brothers and sisters.
With about 1,000 people now confirmed dead, buildings flattened and survivors struggling to find hard surfaces to cling to, I call on our continental organization, the African Union (AU), to lead an emergency response to help save the lives of affected persons in our sister countries.
In the past, Ghana showed leadership and led such emergency efforts such as during the Ebola outbreak in some of our West African neighbouring states. It will be a great sense of pride if our President, Nana Akufo-Addo, rallies his colleagues to mobilise an African-led support package to alleviate the harrowing stories we are beginning to see on our screens.
Our prayers are with the victims of the cyclone.
During the Ebola outbreak, John Mahama, then the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) coordinated sub-regional and international interventions to support the affected countries in their effort to contain and manage the Ebola outbreak.
He also decided to set up an international logistics centre in Accra to serve as the main hub for the fight against Ebola in the West African subregion before donating quantities of various Made in Ghana products to each of the affected countries.
Cyclone Idai which is regarded as one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa has become a reference for some environmentalists on the looming danger of climate change on the continent of Africa.
At least 500 people have been reported dead, several hundreds missing and over 2.5 million people affected in Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe as a result of the strong winds and severe flooding.
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By: Jonas Nyabor | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
