The Lower Volta Basin in Ghana is grappling with a dire situation following the release of excess water from the Akosombo and Kpong dams, leading to severe flooding.
The resilient residents are fighting against both the fury of nature and the deluge caused by man-made actions, with their very existence hanging in the balance.
46-year-old Kojo Atsu is one of over 25,000 people who are now homeless.
He and his family were saved just before his three-bedroom apartment collapsed.
Many others have lost their businesses to the floodwaters.
Residents watch helplessly while their homes and farms continue to be submerged across six districts:
“The water situation in this community is very-very bad for us, more than one week, we couldn’t do anything about this water.”
Critical installations, including hospitals, morgues, schools, banks, and marketplaces are all underwater.
The national disaster management organization, NADMO, with support from the Ghana navy and other security agencies are frantically working to relocate the affected people.
Samuel Okudjetou Ablawa is MP for north Tongu: I will demand a probe into this affair, people must not get away so the most importantly, there will be reforms and this will not recourse. And then we must be thinking about an engineering solution as a country.
The Akosombo and Kpong dams play a crucial role in providing hydroelectric power producing about 1,072 megawatts of Ghana’s total energy mix.