Parliament must expedite Akosombo Dam Spillage probe – Ablakwa

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has urged parliament to expedite its probe into the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams that led to an estimated 30,000 human displacements last year.

Parliament is yet to set up the committee to sit on the matter and with fears of yet another spillage as the rainy season intensifies, the North Tongu MP wants the house to treat the issue with urgency.

“The motion admitted by the Speaker, we have debated, all that is left is for the committees to be set up. And every week, I will remind leadership, because leadership keeps telling us that they will meet with speaker and put the committees together.

“I’m referring to the VRA spillage from the Akosombo dam, that committee. Intelligence is that they are likely to start spilling again very soon, we haven’t learnt lessons, and we haven’t come up with any recommendations. Mr Speaker, we need to have that committee work,” he said.

In October 2023, a controlled spillage of the Akosombo Dam was carried out to prevent an overflow, resulting in the displacement of residents in low-lying areas.

The communities most affected were in the North and Central Tongu districts, with estimates suggesting over 35,857 people were displaced and thousands of homes and farmlands were destroyed.

The floods had a profound impact on over 30,000 individuals in the North Tongu district, leaving them in urgent need of assistance from government and charitable organisations.