Victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage have issued a three-week ultimatum to the government to announce concrete plans for the redevelopment of their houses.
According to them, since the flooding in September 2023, the government appears not to be concerned about their lives and has made no efforts to compensate them or find ways to restore them to their former status.
Speaking to JoyNews, a victim stated that they would go on demonstrations because the government only sits on its toes when individuals demonstrate.
“In three weeks, if we do not hear anything from the government, we are going to stage a demonstration, and we will be marching all the way from Sogakope, the district capital of South Tongu, to Sege to let the whole world know how the government does not care about us.
“We do not know what is going on. They should tell us the plans they have for us—the plans for resettlement. The plans for compensation, We would like to know,” he said.
Another victim stated that, “six months ago now, we have not heard anything from the government, and we do not know their plans for us.
“We are the flood victims yet, and we are giving only three weeks to the government to come to our aid and tell us about their plans towards us.”
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, revealed that he obtained documents from ECOWAS, which indicated that the regional body approved a grant of $200,000 to the Government of Ghana to support flood victims.
However, the money could not be accounted for.
Mr. Ablakwa said despite attempts to trace the money, no one could answer where or what the money was used for.
He added that the lack of response from the government has left many concerned.
“The current exchange is about GH₵2.6 million. If the government gives me that GH₵2.6 million from ECOWAS, I can build another house to host three million people, so where is that money?
“The question I ask is: what other organization out there has our government applied to that we do not know, because if I had not intercepted those documents within ECOWAS, I would not have known.
“If you look at the budget, the government only talked about the World Bank and that climate fund. Why was the government silent when, at the time, they read the budget more than 2 weeks prior to the reading of the budget?
“They had already applied to ECOWAS and received a response from ECOWAS. Why was that hidden from parliament and the Ghanaian people, and how many of these are in the system?” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking on JoyNews’ The Probe on May 5, Information Minister-designate Fatimatu Abubakr said 115 housing units are under construction in the first phase of the resettlement plan, following the disbursement of GH₵80 million out of the GH₵200 million budgeted for the project.
“The government has already started phase one construction at foundation level, 115 housing units. The 115 housing units are in six communities in two constituencies or two districts,” she said.
In September 2023, the Volta River Authority released excess water from the Akosombo Hydro Dam.
This caused flooding and damaged approximately 39,000 homes and livelihoods for individuals residing in the lower Volta basin.
Although Mr. Ablakwa and other stakeholders have built a number of homes to house some families, the government has not officially commenced relocation projects for the residents.