As excavators tore through homes at Tema Community 25 following the execution of a court order, one father says his most painful moment was not watching years of investment crumble, but finding the words to explain it to his children.

For Daniel Haruna Seidu, the demolition of his home has left his family displaced and uncertain about the future after years of hard work and sacrifice.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Mr. Seidu said he is struggling to come to terms with the loss, stating that the emotional weight of the demolition goes beyond the destruction of a building.

“I have a family of eight. My years of investment into that house have gone down the drain. How am I going to start all over again? I don’t even know how I’m going to start and where I am going to take my family to,” he said.

According to him, the house represented years of dedication, planning and financial sacrifice.

“If you see the house, you will understand my pain. How am I going to start all over again?” he asked. “My children asked me what was going on and why they were moving our things,” he recalled.

Unable to explain that the family was losing its home, he said he chose instead to reassure them with a story he hoped would spare them immediate distress.

“I had to tell them we wanted to move our things temporarily because the house was going to be renovated. What is our crime for them to do this?” he questioned.

While acknowledging that the demolition was carried out under a court order, Mr. Seidu said the experience has left him devastated and searching for answers.

“The laws of the land gave them the right to do this,” he said.

For now, the father of eight is left trying to rebuild his life while shielding his children from the full reality of their displacement, a reality he himself is still struggling to accept.