Constituents affected by the Akosombo Adam spillage will seek legal redress over the government and VRA’s failure to honour compensation packages due to them.
Over twelve thousand people were displaced due to the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams in September 2023. It’s been almost a year since the disaster, and victims lament that they have not regained normalcy.
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed this is recommending compensation and a reduction in utility tariffs among others.
“We have spoken with our lawyers and if we don’t see any immediate action from the government to give at least the first batch some compensation, then we will have no option but to go to court because it is our right. Next month is the first anniversary and we are waiting to see what the government will do,” he hinted.
The decision by the Volta River Authority (VRA) in September to open the floodgates of the country’s largest hydro dam, the Akosombo Dam, citing excessive water levels threatening the dam’s sustainability, destroyed livelihoods and property.
During a public hearing by an ad-hoc parliamentary committee on the dam spillage, the District Chief Executive of North Tongu, Divine Osborn Fenu, indicated that over a thousand residents are still displaced.
The Interior Ministry has cautioned the VRA to adhere to all protocols in subsequent exercises to prevent further havoc.
“We have charged the VRA so that in their subsequent exercises, we don’t record any such havoc. We will also have to agree that some of the residences are going to be used as Ramsar sites and so people cannot live there,” he mentioned.
The public hearing on the dam spillage is part of efforts to collate ideas to find a lasting solution to the effects of the dam spillage.