#Editorial

Good Morning Mr. President: On demolition of compounds at Jabang, coups in Africa and others

Aug 29, 2022, 12:17 PM

Mr. President, ensuring housing for the populace is key in any meaningful development. And ensuring that everyone owns a compound or piece of land to call a home is even part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Department of Physical Planning recently embarked on what is believed to be mass demolition of compounds at Jabang. The move came following recent flash floods that hit parts of the country, rendering many homeless. It is disheartening to learn that the Department had forcefully demolished those structures situated at Jabang Estate.

Mr. President, some of these victims spent a lifetime fortune to develop those pieces, where they now call a home. However, what we even found bizarre was that these victims were served with a two-day notice. The situation and the plight of the affected families at Jabang now leaves much to be desired. The price for a piece of land in the country, especially in the Jabang area has shot the roof. Certainly, those affected compound owners spent a significant amount of money in developing these lands. Just imagine, some of the victims took loans and a significant amount of money to build those structures? This development has left many homeless, especially those living at the estate.

Many of the victims in the area got their lands through Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) years back which are a government entity. Didn't SSHFC know prior to allocating those plots that the place is not ideal for residential purposes? Therefore the affected people should be compensated. 

According to some residents, they got letters and within two days officials from Physical Planning were at the site to start the demolition exercise.

Mr. President, your government should make it a priority to devise ways and means that would make it easy for civil servants to access soft loans to own a plot of land. Many civil servants would spend precious time of their age working for the government without owning even a house.

Mr. President, it is also high time that countries start introducing term limits across the continent. This is not only crucial but also ensures equal distribution of developments. This is in view of the fact that every leader must have a target priority to fulfil when assuming office. If not, the continent would continue to lag behind for years. Overstaying is proving to be costing the continent so badly. We are all witnesses to leaders who still want to cling to power just for their selfish interest. Certainly, overstaying is one of the main obstacles that fuel instability in the continent.

Mr. President, this in fact, gives rise to persistent instability on the continent. In the last few years, we have seen numerous coup d’etats on the continent and this is mainly due to selfish and greedy leaders who want to cling to power by all means. In order to make any meaningful headway, people should respect the constitution. In the last few years, we have the constitution being flouted in many countries. And this has caused unrest on all fronts.

Leaders should learn to respect and go by the dictates of the constitution. Until then, Africa will continue to be behind in terms of development. Presidencies are not family compounds where one will stay until he dies and then be inherited by another family member.  

Finally, Mr. President, we believe it’s still significant that your government looks at civil servants’ salaries. The recent 30% salaries increment for civil servants is a welcome development. However, what your government should do is to ensure total salaries’ restructure, otherwise those that are in Grade 6 down to Grade 1 of the government pay scale will be earning less, while those more than the listed grade will be earning more. This does not make any sense. Things are becoming so expensive in the country. The rent is increasing every day. Just imagine a civil servant being paid D5000 and the individual is paying rent, paying school fees for his children, feeding, transport to work and other family needs. What is he going to do with this amount? If we are really serious about fighting corruption in the country and if we want to have productive workforce, we must pay our civil servants so much.

 

Good Day!