Akosombo Dam spillage: Use Contingency Fund to provide support for affected persons – Ablakwa

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu in the Volta Region, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has admonished the government to utilize the Contingency Fund to provide relief to people affected by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.

Mr Ablakwa emphasized that the Contingency Fund was purposely created to tackle unforeseen disasters, like the havoc that has wrecked people in parts of the Volta, Eastern, and Greater Accra Regions due to the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams.

“There is a reason why, in every budget anywhere in the world, there is a line item called the contingency fund. For the current budget we are operating, we approved a contingency fund of GH¢600 million in the budget. The question I ask is, where is all that money? This is a clear case of emergency for which the Contingency Fund qualifies to be used, and so where is the GH¢600 million?”

He also bemoaned the inhumane conditions under which the affected people are living and highlighted that there is no need to wait for another budget cycle to include a relief package for the affected people when there is a fund that can readily be used.

“We don’t need to wait for the next budget cycle. I was in the House when we approved the 2023 budget in November, and we put as much as GH¢600 million in the Contingency Fund. It is for things like these”.

“People are collapsing on a daily basis, and they are living under inhumane conditions. That is what we use the Contingency Fund for, so we don’t wait for another budget cycle. What it means is that my people should forget it because the budget will be approved in late December and spending can start in January 2024. So what it means is my people will be living in classrooms under these inhumane conditions”.

The spillage, which began on September 15, has displaced about 27,000 people in parts of the Volta and Greater Accra Regions, according to the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO).