Hundreds of squatters at a slum area in Tema Newtown waterland, a suburb of Tema, have been rendered homeless following a démolition exercise carried out by a developer on the land they were occupying.

The victims mostly Nigerien traders who have been living in the area for the past 15 years say their former landowner who has since sold out the land to a new buyer, has refused to compensate them despite monies being allocated by the new owner for such purpose.

The over a hundred Nigerien traders who have been living in Waterland, a slum suburb of Tema Newtown, returned home last weekend to meet their place of abode demolished by a developer who is reported to have purchased the land hosting them from their landlord. According to the displaced squatters, even though their former landlord did hint to them at his intention to sell off the land and the need for them to pack out from the place, the sudden démolition of their structures without any prior notice was inhumane.

They claim they have been forced to live under the scorching sun with their families since their landlord failed to compensate them as per an agreement between the former and the new landowner.
Mohammed Illias, an opinion leader in the community who is championing the course for the displaced squatters to be compensated, urged the former landlord whom he claimed had been given money to compensate the squatters to do the needful or else risk cutting the anger of the community members.
Meanwhile, checks indicate that the National Disaster Management Organization have begun arrangements to support the displaced squatters who are currently sleeping in the open at waterland.

An assessment conducted by the Ministry of Health, the Food and Drug Authority (FDA), the Secretariat of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) (Convention Secretariat), WHO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has revealed that more than 800,000 Ghanaians continue to smoke and every year, tobacco use kills more than 6,700 Ghanaians, with 66 percent of these deaths being premature, among people under the age of 70.

These statistics denote many more Ghanaians are not able to quit tobacco or smoking, in general, irrespective of the rehabilitation and restrictive laws eschewing people from smoking.

It is on this score that the Executive Director of the Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation, (ILAPI), Mr. Peter Bismark Kwofie has called on stakeholders in the health sector and policymakers to consciously develop an educative medium-long term gradual approach to reducing tobacco use rather than a short-term radical approach of denying consumers the right to make choices.

“ILAPI as a free enterprise organization that emphasizes freedom and individual liberty, profess other important and evidence-based alternatives to reduce the harm caused by tobacco and subsequently leading to quitting smoking.

Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use kills approximately eight (8) million people annually, with more than even (7) million of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

In addition, it causes lung cancer, tobacco use increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other chronic illnesses.

Experts say the most effective way to prevent tobacco-related deaths is to quit smoking completely, however, addictive smokers are reluctant and unable to quit.

This according to Mr. Bismark Kwofie calls for harm reduction strategies which is crucial as an effective public health solution.

The process of absolutely quitting the habit of smoking has been quite unsustainable, repressive, and draconian, he noted.

Over the past decades, smoke cessation has been promulgated as the best approach to helping combustible smokers to quit. The addictive nature of the nicotine in cigarettes has made quitting smoking a prolonged and difficult process and that, many more smokers are unable to quit.

It is estimated that $115 billion is needed to be invested to help in smoking cessation from 2020–2030. In 2019, the economic cost of tobacco use in Ghana amounted to approximately GH668 million, equivalent to 0.2 percent of the country’s GDP.

The Executive Director of ILAPI is of the view that health workers, social workers, other relevant stakeholders, and policymakers should consider other alternatives which will be less costly and harmful measures to address the consumer choice addiction rate of tobacco.

“In this context, it is crucial to explore the potential benefits and drawbacks of Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) and weigh them against the well-established harmfulness of tobacco use to develop effective strategies for reducing tobacco consumption in Ghana.” He reiterated.

The Executive Director of ILAPI stressed that THR as a public solution recognizes the harm caused by combustible cigarettes and aims to minimize the health impacts of cigarette smoking by encouraging those adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke to switch completely to scientifically substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives ought to be explored in our contemporary society.

Mr. Kwofie is of the opinion that there could be a geo-cultural diversification of solutions to tobacco control but cautioned that the state should conduct and adopt empirically proven techniques as an alternative to reduce harm and death caused by Tobacco whilst not curtailing consumer choice.

“The inhumane and unscientific “Quit or Die” policy should not be reinforced. Instead of putting vapers and consumers at risk, this is a very good opportunity to raise awareness about THR in general, and encourage smokers who cannot quit smoking to adopt it.” He said.

There has been a school of thought of increasing taxes on tobacco products and banning THR products are the best initiatives to prevent people from smoking. But according to the Executive Director of ILAPI, anytime taxes (excise and consumption taxes) on products are high, the rich could buy and the middle-income and poor would engage in smuggling adding to the cost of fighting illicit transactions on tobacco.

“High taxes on tobacco products as means of cessation is not public health.” He retorted

The United States government has promised to intervene on Ghana’s behalf with the Paris Club as the country seeks debt forgiveness as part of the International Monetary Fund’s balance of payment support.

The US Vice President, Kamala Harris, announced this at a joint Press Conference with President Akufo-Addo.

According to Mrs Harris, the US will help Ghana with all the support it needs to ensure that it scales through its current economic crisis.

“We welcome Ghana’s commitment to reform its economy for sustainable and inclusive growth. We support Ghana’s engagement with the IMF, and we will continue to push all bilateral creditors to provide meaningful debt reduction for countries that need it.

“It is critical to do so to build long-term economic growth and prosperity and to increase US investments. Our partnership is already strong, and I believe that today we have strengthened it.”

The US has also announced that its Department of Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) will deploy a full-time resident advisor to assist the Ministry of Finance to develop and execute medium-to-long-term reforms needed to improve debt sustainability and support a competitive, dynamic government debt market.

The project, according to the USA will complement and build on the Government of Ghana’s debt restructuring efforts.

This project is part of OTA’s ongoing engagement to strengthen public financial management and financial sector oversight across sub-Saharan Africa.

Ghana, which is struggling with its worst economic crisis in a generation, secured a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December for a $3 billion loan, though asking lenders to provide financing assurances is a condition for the IMF’s board to sign off the programme.