December 7 polls: What they slum dwellers say

Slum dwellers in Agbogbloshie face constant eviction by city authorities, missing development and basic amenities.

This report explores their perspective on election participation and their expectations after voting, highlighting the ordeal faced by these residents.

According to the slum dwellers, they are deprived from basic amenities as politicians considers them as illegal settlers but remember them when it is time for elections when they troop to the same slums soliciting for votes.

They said the worrying situation is that after voting they are neglected and rejected to the extent that city authorities evict them. Due to this, the slum dwellers have united by selecting leaders from every tribe represented.

A total of sixteen tribes are found in Agbogbloshie Old Fadama where most of the residents are from northern part of Ghana and have come to seek greener pastures but found themselves in the slum.

According to the agbogbloshie community they have had enough of the neglect and their expectation after voting is to see development.

But the Ewe Chief, the representative of the Ewe tribe, Torgbui Arku Sabah, said they see the opposite, vote seekers fail to fulfill their promises.

“When it is time for election you see all kinds of leaders trooping to the slum soliciting for votes which after that they do not see them until another election period,” he said.

Speaking to Kotokoli Chief who doubles as the chairman of the sixteen tribal chiefs, Alhaji Mumuni Salisu, he said politicians have never fulfilled their manifesto promises to them and they have stopped using manifestos as a determinant for voting.

Some young people in the slum said their basic needs are jobs, but politicians have failed in that area.

“We continue our daily struggle trying to earn a living without authorities paying attention to us,” they said.

They called on key stakeholders to ensure the upcoming elections are peaceful.

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