Days after a mudslide buried more than two hundred people in Sierra Leone, some Ghanaians on social media, aghast by the perceived lack of action from African Union and ECOWAS leaders, have started a campaign to rally round support for the West African country.
The message on Facebook was simple: “We did it for France and others, let’s do it for Sierra Leone.â€
The message encouraged people to change their profile pictures to that of the Green, White and Blue, the national colours of the country. It is instructive to say Sierra Leone is blessed with mineral resources but her people live in chronic poverty-with majority of the population living on less than a dollar a day. Â
Several homes located on hilltop on Monday collapsed after torrential rains swept away homes, burying the residents alive. They were asleep, according to reports. Â Mortuaries in the country are said to be overwhelmed by the scale of dead bodies-mostly children. Others have also gone missing.
The European Union has so far pledged an amount of 300,000 euros to be spent on humanitarian agencies so they provide for survivors.
Both the African Union and ECOWAS have come under severe criticisms for their lack of support to their own. This prompted individuals to take to social media to call for support for the country.
Journalist Stephen Anti has not only changed his profile picture since the story broke but questioned the lukewarm attitude people have so far shown to the situation, contrary to what was witnessed with the attacks in London and Paris. Sierra Leone, he wrote, needs help.
Others also called for prayers for the families. President Ernest Bai Koroma is expected to join the affected families for Christian and Muslim prayers.
Since a brutal civil war in the 1990s which led to the chopping of hands by rebels, the country has witnessed one horrific incident after another, including the death of more than 3,000 from Ebola outbreak in 2014.
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primenewsghana.com/Ghana News