Some prominent individuals, including sub-chiefs are said to be intercepting relief items meant for flood victims, diverting them home and misappropriating them. This is in relation to the floods that have rendered many homeless following the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams.

A palace spokesperson at Mepe, Rudolph Kwadzo Gli expressed this misgiving prior to the presentation of food stuff and various relief items worth GH¢20,000 by the Avazorli Union of which Mepe is a member, to the flood victims in the town, last Friday (November 10).

He, therefore, appealed to all donor groups to hand over the relief items to the palace at Mepe to ensure an equitable sharing of the items among the displaced persons.

Rudolph Kwadzo Gli did not give further details on those perpetrating the fraudulent acts, reports Graphic Online’s Alberto Mario Noretti.

The other Avazorli communities are Ziavi, Kpedze-Todze, Etordome, Botoku, Ando (Ghana and Togo), and Kpando-Anyigbe.

The Paramount Chief of Ziavi, Togbe Kwaku Ayim IV led a delegation of Avazorli chiefs and queens in a touching visit to Mepe to present the items at the palace.

The items included bags of gari, plantain, maize, corn flour, cassava dough, and a consignment of sachet water, bales of clothes and an undisclosed amount of money.

“We may be separated by distance but our strong bond of kinship will always hold us together,” said Togbe Ayim.

He entreated the chiefs and queens of Mepe not to leave out physically challenged people in the sharing of the items.

Togbe Ayim gave an assurance that the other Avazorli groups would stand firmly behind their siblings in Mepe, in thick and thin, and always share their pain in times of suffering.

Unity in grief

He entreated the people of Mepe to remain united in grief and wait patiently for life to return to normal as efforts by the government and other stakeholder organisations were underway to tackle the problem.

For his part, Rudolph Kwadzo Gli who received the items on behalf of the people of Mepe said the kind gesture by the Avazorli Union was overwhelming and a true demonstration of love and goodwill towards the flood victims.

“This will further strengthen the unbreakable ties of unity among us,” he added.

He gave an assurance that the items would be shared among the flood victims in utmost fairness.

The Avazorli Union trace their ancestry from Goshen in ancient Egypt through Nostie in the present day Republic of Togo, where they were once an identifiable group, before fleeing in a mass exodus from the tyrannical rule of King Agorkoli to their present locations in Ghana, with the Ando group in both Ghana and Togo.

To foster unity and cohesion among them, a union was formed in 1984 and this culminated in its launch in Ziavi in 1987 where the name Avazorli Union was unveiled.