Provide special tents for couples – Appiatse victims demand

Scores of couples at the Appiatse Relief Camp have proposed the establishment of more tents to enable them to have legitimate intimacy.

Sharing their concerns with the Ghana News Agency, some of the women said they had not had intimacy with their husbands, which was having a psychological effect on them, while others complained about petty theft at the camp.

Madam Florence Fosuah, a 40-year-old trader and a mother of four, said since her arrival at the Camp, she had not had any intimacy with her husband.

“Sex is part of marriage so we cannot deny our partners and they cannot deny us either. We plead with the authorities to make available reserve tents to allow couples to have intimacy when the need be.”

“We know some people are reported to be doing it in the bushes, particularly at night, but our customs and traditions frown on such social misdeeds with dire consequences,” she said.

Madam Mable Agily, a 24-year-old mother of two from Zebilla in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region shared similar sentiments.

“My husband sleeps metres away from me, preventing me from visiting him in his all-male room in the night as he cannot visit me either,” she said.

“That leaves me with my eight-month baby to keep me company as he coughs profusely from the effects of the explosion, particularly at night.”

Madam Grace Quansah, a mother of two, complained of theft of her belongings, including cooking utensils, as well as the difficulty in observing personal hygiene, making it difficult for some of the people cope at the camp.

She lamented the overcrowding in the rooms, emphasizing that a room that should take six people on average took more than 20.

Mr Kwesi Ofori, a member of the Appiatse Relief Committee, corroborated the stories and called on the public for support.

“We have lots of food, but the tents are not enough,’’ he said.

Mr James Amfo, the Bogoso Zonal Director in charge of Stores, National Disaster Management Organisation, acknowledged their predicaments and assured of steps to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

“Government is determined to protect all the displaced persons,” he said, and urged all to remain calm as measures were being taken to remedy the situation.

Fourteen people died and several others sustained injuries on Thursday, January 20, 2022 when a truck carrying explosives from Maxam Ghana Limited, a company licensed to transport explosives, detonated.