Akosombo Dam Spillage: 17-year-old boy chooses mother’s safety over school

The daily lives of residents around the lower Volta basin saw a huge turnaround when excess water from the Akosombo Dam was spilled; damaging a large portion of the towns.

This action has wreaked irreparable havoc on the properties and lives of the residents of Central Tongu, North Tongu, South Tongu, Keta, and Keta North.

A resident of a neighbouring town which has not been severely affected by the floods is 17-year-old Christopher Yao Ahate who has ditched school to protect his mother from any unforeseen disaster.

“Yes, I have school to go to but because of this, I can’t leave my mum there and go to school. People think our place is flooded but it’s not like that. It seems like we are on an island over there. Maybe one night, we can sleep and that place will be flooded too and nobody will be there to take my mum and that’s why we carry this canoe on our shoulder to the water,” he said.

He said though the situation in his area is not as bad as Mepe's, movement and access to food have become very difficult for them.

According to Christopher, who is a first-year student of the Comboni Technical Vocational Institute in Sogakope, the aftermath of the floods has been very difficult and he is helping to ferry some commuters from Mepe in a canoe.

Christopher currently lives in Kedzi in the Volta Region but has left his residence to help the people of Mepe.

The Volta River Authority (VRA) initiated its controlled spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams on September 15, 2023, due to the consistent rise in water level upstream of the Akosombo Dam primarily caused by rainfall.

Since the spillage exercise began, some communities downstream of the Volta River have been submerged due to the excessive water from the dam.

Residents in these areas have been left stranded as their homes have been submerged by the flood as a result of the spillage.

Following the recent flooding of some communities due to the spillage of the Akosombo dam, the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has set up an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate the government's response to the victims.

The committee is expected to work collaboratively to assess the situation, identify the most pressing needs, and implement measures to mitigate the impact of the flooding on affected residents.



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