Former Greater Accra Regional Minister Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus Glover has taken issue with the government’s decision to proceed with the July 1 National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, arguing that the moment called for national mourning instead.
He said the country should have paused to grieve victims of the recent floods, which caused deaths and widespread destruction in several communities. In his view, a thanksgiving service did not reflect the mood of the nation.
“First of all, I think that we need to observe some minutes of silence on this show for those 32 Ghanaians who have lost their lives,” he said.
Mr Glover described heartbreaking accounts from the disaster, including stories of families overwhelmed by rising waters. He mentioned reports of a household of eight parents and six children who reportedly lived in kiosks and were swept away during the floods.
“When we sit back and watch the TV, where people have been washed in this water, at a point in time, I was told that a family of eight, a couple and six of their children who live in the kiosks were taken away by these floods,” he said.
He also referenced another incident in which a man was trapped inside a wooden structure before floodwaters engulfed it.
According to him, authorities should have cancelled the prayer event or rebranded it as a national mourning ceremony to honour those who died.
“That is why some of us were not comfortable when His Excellency the President, on the 1st of July, the thanksgiving that he did, they could have turned that thanksgiving to a day of mourning, because we have lost lives,” he stated.
He added that Ghana has observed national mourning in past tragedies and said the same response should have applied in this situation.
“We could have used that opportunity, just like we did for our comrades who passed in that crash,” he said.
Mr Glover further noted that public reaction after the event showed widespread discomfort, with many questioning the appropriateness of holding a thanksgiving service during a period of national grief.
