Following accusations of abuse in the distribution of premix gasoline by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Emmanuel Gemegah, there is rising tension in the Keta Municipal Assembly (KeMA).
In a news release, a group of young people going by the name Concerned Youth of Keta said that Mr. Gemegah had given himself and his friends control over the landing beach committees, which distribute fuel.
The panel made notice of Mr. Gemegah’s management of the consignment sale to fishermen, which lacked openness and accountability.
The statement claims that committees were subjected to unfair repercussions when they failed to follow the MCE’s instructions.
MCE’s reaction
Mr. Gemegah, however, asserted to the Daily Graphic yesterday that the accusations leveled against him were untrue and did not reflect the views of the Keta youngsters.
Instead, he claimed that a small group of people were driving the accusations in order to further their own agendas.
Since flooding is occurring in my town as we speak and I don’t have the time to address claims made by a small number of persons who claimed to be irate, Mr. Gemegah said: “You may come to the municipality to check and you would see that there is no truth in the allegations.
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Allegations
The organization claimed that the community had been arbitrarily blacklisted by the MCE and that it had not gotten a single drop of the necessary good since June 2022. They supported their claim by citing Vodza and Adzido, two important fishing settlements in the municipality.
One premix fuel shipment intended for the Nukpesekope Landing Beach Committee was switched to another place in April 2022, according to the organization.
Fish and fisheries, according to the organisation, are essential to the people’s way of life, culture, and legacy in all coastal fishing towns.
According to the report, 20% of the country’s population, or around 6 million people, are employed in Ghana’s value chain by the industry. The youth group bemoaned that, despite the industry’s enormous importance, local fish resources and management were being adversely affected by a combination of bad governance, official abuse of authority, lack of transparency, heavy exploitation, and, in some cases, poor management practices of marine and ecosystems.
Therefore, they demanded corrective measures to prohibit the MCE from exercising “autocratic” leadership toward the villages, which not only denied the people what they were entitled but also damaged the government’s reputation.
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