Akosombo Dam spillage: We are considering a class action case against gov’t – Ablakwa reveals

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has stated that a class action suit against the government on behalf of the victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage is imminent.

According to him, after careful consideration of the issues and the government’s complete neglect of the victims, legal action will compel the government to fully compensate them.

Moreover, the lawmaker noted that there has been little action taken despite intensive efforts to get government support for the thousands of people affected by the disaster, including new homes and assistance for those who lost property.

In an interview on Joy FM, the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament stressed that the victims feel betrayed and ignored eight months after the catastrophe, emphasising that they should be compensated for their losses.

“To be very sincere with you, we have begun discussions with our lawyers. We’ve done everything we can do in Parliament. We have filed motions, we’ve made statements, we’ve filed urgent questions and we have engaged ministers. It’s clear that this is a clear case of government abdicating and engaging in cruel neglect. So, we are considering a class action.

“We are talking to our lawyers, and we want to take legal action to compel the government to be responsible and be responsive to the plight of the victims of this man-made disaster which they created. It appears that that’s the only realistic option we have now,” Mr. Ablakwa noted.

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He noted that some of the victims have homes due to the benevolence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), embassies, and cooperative organisations.

“We were able to get two resettlements, housing 600 people. Where will all of these displaced people be? We are on the third project now, MP and partners projects, but there’s not much we can do. The catastrophe is on a large scale, we expect the government to carry out its mandate,” said the North Tongu legislator.

In a bid to prevent the Dam from collapsing, the Volta River Authority (VRA) carried out the spillage exercise on September 15, 2023.

Also, according to the data from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), over 27,000 residents within the communities along the lower Volta Basin were hard hit.

Government allocates GHC220 million to flood victims

The government disclosed in the 2024 Budget presented to Parliament in November 2023 that GH¢220 million was allocated to support relief efforts for communities affected by the floods.

President Akufo-Addo stated in his Independence Day address that the Ministry of Finance had disbursed GH¢80 million of the GH¢220 million that was earmarked to fund the ongoing rehabilitation of the affected communities.

But Mr. Ablakwa bemoaned the absence of transparency on how the GH¢80 million that the Ministry of Finance released was used.

“The last time we heard from the Works and Housing Minister, the government was still doing an assessment to determine how much exactly would go, what sort of resettlement and low-cost housing they promised would happen. So, the last time the “Works and Housing Minister visited, he told the chief that they should prepare the land, the government would soon arrive. That was about three weeks ago.”

“When the chief asked him for designs and if they could have a look at them for the housing project, he told the chief that the designs were not ready.

“So, it’s a very lackadaisical, nonchalant attitude. It’s as though, let’s pretend after many months when there is an outcry and they are reminded that they have an obligation, there is a constitutional mandate imposed on them, then, they come around,” Mr. Ablakwa said.

Concerns about new projects in Ejisu

Mr. Ablakwa, therefore, criticised the government for undertaking new projects in the Ejisu constituency ahead of the by-election.

“How about fellow citizens, thousands of them, living in tents? They’ve lost everything. Farmers who cannot return to their farms because their farms were submerged, and they don’t have the means to return to their livelihoods.”

“They don’t want to remain beggars”, he said, adding that the victims do not want to “remain people who are at the mercy of charity and to continue to live in abject squalor.”

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