Speaker of Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has assured residents of Mepe in the North Tongu district of the Volta region that their community would be restored to its glory.
According to the Speaker, “what delights me the most today is the sight of land, trees and life not covered in sinking waters but in the joyful beats of drums that send a message of the restoration of this great community.”
Delivering a message on behalf of the Speaker at the 68th Mepe Afenorto Festival durbar Saturday, August 10, 2024, Kofi Amoatey, counsel to the Speaker, gave Mr. Bagbin’s word that the theme of the event, Rebuilding and Sustainability of Mepe: Post Akosombo Dam Flood Disaster, will manifest in the lives of the people.
“The presence of life is the presence of possibility. I give you my word today that the theme of this gathering would not just be a ceremony celebrated and forgotten in moments but a reality that would form a part of the history of this traditional area to tell the young and unborn that a day came when Mepe fell and another came when it rose majestically, never to fall again,” Speaker Bagbin stated.
He expressed appreciation to the chiefs and people for their support so to the residents so far.
“Invited Guest Ladies and Gentlemen, permit me to take this moment to express my deepest gratitude to our chiefs, the esteemed leader of the community, and our Queenmothers, whose tireless efforts have brought boundless joy and prosperity to our people.
“Furthermore, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the remarkable contributions of the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, my son, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. His unwavering commitment to alleviating the plights of the people, not just during times of crisis but also in the ongoing pursuit of progress, has been a beacon of hope for our community,” he stated.
The Akosombo Dam spillage
Residents of the North Tongu district, especially those from the Mepe community, suffered severe consequences of the Akosombo Dam spillage, a crisis that displaced thousands of indigenous people in the affected areas.
The Akosombo Dam, with its staggering 150 billion cubic meters storage capacity and a maximum operating level of 276 feet, has long been a crucial source of hydroelectric power for Ghana.
A significant increase in rainfall, according to managers of the Dam, the Volta River Authority (VRA), pushed water levels beyond the dam’s maximum operating capacity. According to the VRA, the Dam was faced with the risk of failure, therefore necessitating the spillage.
The exercise commenced on September 15, 2023, initially at a discharge rate of 183,000 cubic feet per second (cfs/day), which was later increased on October 9 due to the continued rise of the water level.
With the town of Mepe being the hardest-hit community, initial reports indicated that 8,000 individuals were displaced across eight communities, but the numbers skyrocketed to an alarming 31,000 as of October 19 2023. Families have been uprooted from their homes, losing their belongings and sources of livelihood overnight.
The spillage also had a profound impact on education in the region. Schools were forced to close, leaving pupils and students without access to education. The interruption in learning could have long-term consequences for the affected children, depriving them of their right to education and hindering their future prospects.
Calls came for the government to provide immediate assistance, including temporary shelter, food, clean water, and medical aid, to alleviate the suffering of affected communities.
About the Akosombo Dam
The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority.
The primary purpose of the Akosombo Dam was to provide electricity for the aluminium industry. The Akosombo Dam is the largest single investment in the economic development plans of Ghana. The dam is significant for providing both Togo and Benin’s electricity, although the construction of the Adjarala Dam (on Togo’s Mono River) hopes to reduce these countries’ reliance on imported electricity. The dam’s original electrical output was 912 megawatts (1,223,000 hp), which was upgraded to 1,020 megawatts (1,370,000 hp) in a retrofit project that was completed in 2006.
In 1961, the Volta River Authority (VRA) was established by Ghana’s Parliament through the passage of the Volta River Development Act. The VRA’s fundamental operations were structured by six board members with Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as Chairman.
The construction of the Akosombo Dam resulted in the flooding of part of the Volta River Basin and its upstream fields, and in the creation of Lake Volta which covers 3.6% of Ghana’s total land area.
Lake Volta was formed between 1962 and 1966 and necessitated the relocation of about 80,000 people, who represented 1% of the population. People of 700 villages were relocated into 52 resettlement villages two years prior to the dam’s completion; the resettlement programme was under the direction of the VRA.
The last time the Akosombo Dam community experienced flooding as a result of a controlled spillage of the dam was in 2010.
