The Ghana Meteorological Agency has issued a warning regarding an upcoming heavy rainfall in the Lower Volta Basin.
Felicity Ahiafianyo, the Director of Central Analysis and Forecasting at the agency, has emphasized the urgency of the situation and advised flood victims to consider relocating to safer areas for their own safety.
This announcement follows the recent flooding caused by the spillage from the Akosombo Dam, which has resulted in the displacement of numerous individuals in the Lower Volta Basin.
“We don’t have any control over the spillage, but what we can provide is weather updates and the state of the sky in a particular area.”
“And per the analysis we did yesterday, we are still having about a 40–70 per cent chance of rain in the areas around the Lower Volta Basin, so we will encourage the flood victims to move to safer areas,” she told Rainbow Radio.
Numerous communities within the Volta Region have encountered severe flooding as a consequence of the deliberate release of surplus water from the Akosomo Dam by the Volta River Authority (VRA) during the initial weeks of October 2023. A staggering count of over 26,000 individuals, along with virtually all structures, residences, and assets within the affected localities, have been entirely engulfed by the rising waters.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister, Dr Bryan Acheampong, has provided assurance to farmers residing in the nine districts impacted by the floods caused by the Akosombo Dam that the government will take the necessary measures to ensure they receive appropriate compensation.
According to him, the government has expressed its commitment to ensuring the complete restoration of the affected farmlands in the aftermath of the spillage, acknowledging the severe impact it has had.
During his speech to the audience on the presidential “Youth in Agriculture” initiative on Wednesday, October 18, at the Cedi Conference Centre, University of Ghana, Dr. Bryan Acheampong made this announcement. He claims that all victims will be equally compensated because they have all suffered financial losses.
“We have all witnessed the devastation as a result of the necessary action the VRA had to take to save the Akosombo Dam. As a result, several farmers have been affected, and a lot of them have been completely wiped out.”
“I have directed that, due to this emergency, 40 million dollars of the World Bank-funded food systems resilience programme be restructured to restore farmers fully whose farms have been wiped out due to the necessary action taken by the VRA to save us all,” Bryan Acheampong stated.
