President John Dramani Mahama has promised to compensate victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage.
The Dam spillage which occurred in September 2023 caused serious destruction of properties, displaced many and truncated the livelihoods of residents in the Lower Volta Basin.
Delivering a speech during his ‘Thank You’ tour in the Volta Region on January 24 2025, President Mahama assured Ghanaians that his government will ensure such a thing does not recur.
“We will also ensure that victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage are adequately compensated and that measures are taken to prevent such in the future,” he announced.
President Mahama has also tasked the Transport Minister to brief Cabinet on the current status of the Keta port project.
“I’ve asked the newly appointed Minister of Transport to review the feasibility study on the Keta Port project and brief Cabinet as early as possible on the status of this project.”
Government in its 2024 budget, earmarked GHȼ220 million to support the relief phase for communities affected by the Akosombo spillage as well as floods upstream in the Oti, Savannah, and Bono-East regions.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, during his presentation of government’s Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2024 Financial Year revealed.
“In addition, the Ministry of Finance, after the visit was quick to respond. We have requested funding from the World Bank under the IDA Crisis Response Window (CRW) to support the resettlement of the victims, restoration of livelihoods, compensation and reconstruction of infrastructure in the affected communities,” he noted.
However, in October last year, the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said legal action will be taken to compel the government to compensate all victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage.
Speaking during a victory walk organised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in his constituency, Ablakwa pledged his continued efforts to ensure that all affected individuals receive proper compensation.
Ablakwa disclosed that he will not rest until all the affected persons are duly compensated as pledged by the government.
“I have been assuring my constituents that we shall not forsake them, we shall not abandon them. All the victims of the [Volta River Authority] VRA’s spillage, we will not rest until every single one of them is fully compensated.”
“And we are initiating legal action to make sure that we compel the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government, a government that has abdicated, a government that has neglected the needs of the people, we will compel them to wake up to their responsibilities and we will not rest until all my constituents are fully and duly compensated,” he said.