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Former President Jerry John Rawlings (right) explaining a point to the delegation. Picture: NII MARTEY M. BOTCHWAY
Former President Jerry John Rawlings (right) explaining a point to the delegation. Picture: NII MARTEY M. BOTCHWAY

Create Authority to address challenges of Lower Volta Basin communities - President Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has advocated the creation of Lower Volta Development Authority, a body that will have the responsibility to formulate and implement policies to address the challenges of fishing communities along the Lower Volta Basin.

He said there was the need for deliberate investment in aquaculture resources in the area as a measure to improve the livelihood of the residents who had suffered the adverse effects of the Volta dam.

Former President Rawlings made that call when a delegation of chiefs and opinion leaders from communities along the Lower Volta Basin called on him at his Ridge residence in Accra yesterday, at which he was announced as the ambassador of the initiative.

The high-powered delegation included Togbe Akliku Ahorney II, the chief of Mafi Dadoboe, Togbe Avadaola Azagba IV of the Mepe Traditional Area, and the Secretary of the Central Tongu Queenmothers Association, Mama Gbemu Ameyisa.

The purpose of the visit was to officially brief the former President on the negative impact that the construction of the Akosombo Dam had brought on the residents of the area and to solicit his support to salvage the situation.

Commitment
Former President Rawlings observed that the call by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for attitudinal change to protect the environment ought to be extended to fishing communities, especially in the Lower Volta Basin.

“We have seen a lot of depletion of fishery stock in our lakes and rivers. We need to revamp aquaculture by investing more in programmes that will not create issues for local communities,” he said.

He, however, urged residents in fishing communities to desist from the use of unorthodox methods to harvest fish, saying that such acts endanger useful aquatic lives.
The visibly worried former President blamed the economic hardships in the Lower Volta Basin and other rural settings on bad government policies.

“People in leadership should focus on projects that are key to the basic needs of the marginalised populations.

“It is a shame that greed and selfishness have taken over governance in this country when just a little investment could change the lives of vulnerable people for the better,” he said.

Implement recommendations
The traditional rulers called for the implementation of the recommendations that were made in the Volta Basin Research Project, which assessed the matters arising from the post-dam construction on the settler communities.

They stressed that immediate action ought to be taken to adopt and implement the Lower Volta Cluster Fish Farm Ownership Scheme in order to empower fishermen.

One issue that took centre stage when the traditional rulers took turns to speak was the worrying increase in the number of teenage pregnancy cases in the communities in the Central Tongu, North Tongu, and South Tongu districts, which all fall within the Lower Volta Basin.

Togbe Akliku attributed the situation to decline in fishing and harvesting of oysters which formed the main economic activities of the settlers in those communities.

“The construction of the Akosombo Dam has been of immense benefit to the entire country, but the host communities should not be suffering unduly due to neglect by successive governments.

“To say that the future is bleak is an understatement because our women are jobless and teenage pregnancy is high because parents cannot take care of their children,” he added.

Chinese
For his part, Togbe Azagba bemoaned the invasion of the area by Chinese fishermen, saying, “if you come to the Volta Basin now, you will see a lot of aquaculture farms springing up, but those farms belong to the Chinese.”

He said the continuous marginalisation of the residents of the area could give rise to a social revolution and create a vicious cycle of socio-economic challenges.

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