Ghana’s Dam Spillage Displaces Some 36,000 People

By Xinhua 

October 28, 2023

At least 36,000 people have been displaced and 150 rural communities submerged in devastating floods in southern Ghana following the spillage of the Volta Dam, a Ghanaian official has said.

Seji Saji Amedonu, the deputy director-general of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), told Xinhua on Thursday that the affected communities are in eight districts across the Greater Accra, Volta and Eastern Regions.

Amedonu attributed the dam’s spillage, which began in early October, to an excess of water resulting from heavy rains in September and the ongoing spillage of the Bagre Dam upstream in Burkina Faso.

Numerous structures, farms, roads, schools, health facilities and power stations were submerged in various communities, with losses yet to be assessed.

NADMO has provided shelter to most displaced individuals in schools, churches, mosques and tents, and potable water has been delivered through tanker services across the eight districts since the flooding began.

“We are working with the Ghana Health Service and the district health directorates in all these districts to offer health services to the residents. We have our mobile clinics in almost all the affected districts,” Amedonu said.

He said that the situation is expected to return to normal within two to three weeks, and at that time the process of cleaning, fumigation and conducting health checks will begin to facilitate the return of displaced individuals to their homes.