Former President John Mahama has sent messages of condolence to the peoples of Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique following the devastation caused by the tropical cyclone, Idai.
Mahama rallies support for 3 Cyclone Idai countries
It's been almost a week since Cyclone Idai slammed into the Southern part of Africa.
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According to him, "Watching the humanitarian crisis unfolding, following the landfall of this category 2 cyclone, it shows that our continent is totally unprepared for the extremities associated with climate change manifesting around our planet."
Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi have all declared emergencies and appealed for humanitarian assistance.
Mahama in a statement urged "African countries to quickly take the lead to mobilise a humanitarian response in support of our brothers and sisters.
"With about 1,000 people now confirmed dead, buildings flattened and survivors struggling to find hard surfaces to cling to, I call on our continental organization, the African Union (AU), to lead an emergency response to help save the lives of affected persons in our sister countries."
He added that " In the past, Ghana showed leadership and led such emergency efforts such as during the Ebola outbreak in some of our West African neighboring states."
"It will be a great sense of pride if our President, Nana Akufo-Addo, rallies his colleagues to mobilise an African-led support package to alleviate the harrowing stories we are beginning to see on our screens," he noted.
Effects of Cyclone Idai
In Zimbabwe, at least 98 people have died and 217 people are missing in the east and south, the government said.
In Malawi, the UN says more than 80,000 people have been displaced by the cyclone.
Large parts of Mozambique have been engulfed after the cyclone smashed into its low-lying coastal areas, while heavy rains caused landslides and floods in Malawi and Zimbabwe.
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