Ablakwa Sets Up GH¢100,000 Emergency Fund To Assist Akosombo Dam Spillage Victims

• Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the MP for North Tongu, has set up a GH¢100,000 emergency fund to assist Akosombo dam spillage victims
• The MP noted that the emergency fund would prioritise providing accommodation for women, particularly nursing mothers
• He promised that if given the nod in the 2024 general elections, he would prioritise resettling and compensating victims of the flood

The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced a GH¢100,000 emergency fund to assist the Akosombo dam spillage victims.

The fund is to help victims finance their rent after they lost their accommodation during the flood disaster in October 2023.

Announcing the fund to constituents, Ablakwa stated the intervention was geared at resettling and compensating over 12,000 dam spillage victims.

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Ablakwa said this after filing his parliamentary nomination forms at the regional EC headquarters to contest the upcoming elections.

He stated that there are 1,360 constituents still living in tents following the floods.

He said the situation was unacceptable and inhumane and needed to be comprehensively addressed.

Ablakwa promised constituents that in his next term, he would dedicate all efforts to resettling and compensating all victims of the dam spillage.

He also said the emergency fund would prioritise women and nursing mothers.

Ablakwa clashes with Oppong-Nkrumah

Earlier, there was some tension in Parliament when Ablakwa, Chairman of the Parliamentary Assurance Committee, clashed with Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the Works and Housing Minister.

Ablakwa wanted Oppong-Nkrumah to retract and apologise for referring to his role as a 'bully pulpit'.

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Citi News reported that the controversy arose amid concerns about delays in completing resettlement housing units for the Akosombo dam spillage victims.

Ablakwa had said the minister was insincere at his answers, prompting the bully pulpit remark.

Ablakwa took offence at the remark and demanded a formal apology, while Oppong-Nkrumah questioned whether he could defend himself against the attacks.

In September 2023, heavy rains and the opening of the spill gates of the Akosombo Dam caused heavy flooding in nearby communities, displacing hundreds of residents in the Volta Region.

Ablakwa pays teachers’ rent

YEN.com.gh also reported that Ablakwa said he had covered the rent advance for 167 teachers displaced by the Akosombo Dam spillage.

The MP told Citi News that he had disbursed an amount of GH¢150,000 to the Ghana Education Service in the district to cover the rent.

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Proofread by Bruce Douglas, senior copy editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh