Posts in category: Other News

Mrs. Gertrude Araba Esabaa Torkornoo, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, has been nominated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to become the next Chief Justice of Ghana.

However, her appointment is still subject to approval by Parliament.

If approved, Justice Torkornoo will succeed Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, who is set to retire on May 24, 2023, as he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 for justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

President Akufo-Addo stated in a letter to the Council of State that Justice Torkornoo has been on the Supreme Court for the last four years and has served in the judiciary for the past nineteen years, making her suitably qualified to perform the duties of Chief Justice.

Justice Torkornoo’s appointment would make her the third female Chief Justice in Ghana’s history, following the footsteps of Justices Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.

Her appointment would be President Akufo-Addo’s third appointment to the Chief Justice position since he took office in January 2017.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The National Cathedral of Ghana (NCG) project has a sustainable economic model which is expected to rake in $95m in the first five years of its operation, the Executive Director of the NCG Secretariat, Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah, has said.

The economic model is made up of about 10 revenue streams which include multi-purpose rental spaces, an over 1,000-seater banquet hall, a conference centre, a 350-seater biblical restaurant, a café, shops and theatres.

The rest are its groundbreaking design, a Bible Museum of Africa and a Biblical Gardens of Africa which would help facilitate the development of the country and turn it into a major religious metropolis for African Christianity.

The project includes seven levels – two basement levels and five upper levels, thus, making it the highest civic building in the national capital, Accra, with a height of about 50 metres. The ‘Job 600’ is 45 metres.

As a standalone structure with a Bell Tower, the cathedral will reach nearly 60 metres, making it the largest single building in Accra.

According to the Executive Secretary, the sustainable economic model which would generate income would be implemented progressively to attract global and African visitors, adding “its economic impact analysis has been submitted to Parliament.”

He said other details such as accounting for all the monies paid by the state and the work done so far had also been submitted to Parliament after a thorough briefing session with the select committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism.

Event

Dr Opoku-Mensah said this at the National Cathedral of Ghana Bible Reading Marathon Thanksgiving Service and the celebration of the laying of the foundation for the cathedral in Accra on Monday.

The two-day event which ended on December 30, 2022, was attended by people from all walks of life, and the Holy Bible read for long hours.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Commanders of Security Services, a representative of the Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice, all read portions of the Book of Revelations from the Bible.

Dr Opoku-Mensah also said that a team had concluded discussions with some Israeli antiquities authority that would be loaning Ghana some artifacts, adding that “they are willing to make this a long-term loan for us.”

Part of the construction methodology is that the whole structure after the foundation would be made up of steel, the reason he said work could finish before the end of 2024.

Accountability

The executive secretary further said that the secretariat had accounted for every cedi expended on the project and submitted reports to Parliament.

He, therefore, discounted claims by some Members of Parliament that even though the secretariat had received GH¢339m, they could not account for GH¢225m, alleging that GH¢114m was missing.

Dr Opoku-Mensah explained that an amount paid directly to the secretariat was GH¢225m, while GH¢113m was paid directly to consultants and the design team of the project.

He said the money included total payments made to the contractor and total payments made to the Bible Museum and Biblical Gardens design team.

Between them, he said, they had done some of the major works, including the African American Museum, the Bible Museum and the Major Art and Presidential Museum globally.

In the case of the amount paid to the consultants, Dr Opoku-Mensah said he presented the list of all the companies and consultant teams to the Parliamentary sub-committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism on December 15, 2022.

“Sir David Adjaye does not have a contract as an individual architect, but for a set of consultant services involving 15 international engineering firms of which David Adjaye and associates were lead consultants,” the executive secretary said.

Rationale

President Akufo-Addo said the reasons for the construction of the cathedral were partly to thank God for His mercies on the country, including the fact that the nation had been spared any form of war, famine or epidemics since independence.

Secondly, about 71 per cent of citizens adhered to the Christian religion, who are grouped under the various persuasions of the Christian faith, and that the interdenominational national cathedral will, therefore, help to unify the Christian community and also promote unity and social cohesion.

He added that the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in rejecting a call to nullify the cathedral project laid particular emphasis on its significance to national cohesion.

Thirdly, on a personal note “I made a pledge to Almighty God that if he was gracious enough to grant my party, the New Patriotic Party and I victory in the 2016 elections after two unsuccessful attempts, I will help build the cathedral to His glory and honour.”

“I am determined with your support to redeem this pledge,” he said, adding “just as God prospered Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, I am grateful that He will prosper us and make us succeed in our endeavour.”

The President donated GH¢100,000 towards the construction of the cathedral, while the First Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Rev.Dr. Samuel Asante-Antwi, also donated GH¢10,000, which was presented by his wife, Comfort Asante-Antwi.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Passengers originating from China will be required to undergo free mandatory COVID-19 testing on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) as part of updated travel guidelines for visiting the country.

The passengers from China must also present a valid negative COVID-19 PCR test result 48 hours prior to departure from their originating country per the latest guidelines which come into effect on January 6, 2023.

All other passengers from countries asides from China who are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated will be required to present a valid COVID-19 PCR test result 48 hours prior to departure from the originating country. In addition, such passengers will be required to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing on arrival at the KIA at no cost.

The new guidelines are in response to the change in the global COVID-19 situation, particularly with a surge in new cases in China and other countries as well as Ghana’s relatively low vaccine coverage.

The measures are to address the current threat of COVID-19, especially with regard to the importation of cases.

Sanctions

Passengers may also be selected at random and offered COVID-19 tests on arrival while non-Ghanaians travelling to the KIA with fake or forged vaccination certificates shall be quarantined and returned to the point of embarkation at their own cost.

Airlines that bring passengers to the KIA who are not fully vaccinated or passengers originating from China without a valid negative COVID-19 PCR test result 48 hours prior to departure would be surcharged $3,500.

All arriving passengers will also undergo temperature screening, Yellow Fever Card verification and COVID-19 vaccination certificate verification.

Exemptions

– Children less than 18 years of age are exempted from mandatory vaccination, pre-departure PCR testing and testing on arrival in Ghana

– Airline crew are exempted from the pre-departure and arrival COVID-19 testing and should follow the Airline policy for testing.

– Passengers who arrive under emergency circumstances such as diverted flights will not be required to undergo testing if they do not leave the airport or remain in isolation in their hotel.

Vaccination

Definition of Fully Vaccinated – A person is said to be fully vaccinated when he/she has taken the full dose of vaccines approved and registered by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana or other vaccines prequalified by WHO (https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who).

All Passengers must present a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate showing that they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before embarkation except partially vaccinated or unvaccinated Ghanaians who are required to present a negative 48hrs PCR test result to the airline before embarkation and to Port Health upon arrival.

Similar actions

Morocco has also announced similar directives for passengers from China. From Tuesday, Morocco will ban travellers from China regardless of their nationality until further notice.

The Morocco Foreign Ministry said the move is aimed at preventing a spike in infections in the country.

The moves come after China abruptly dropped its Covid-19 controls in December last year.

Other countries outside Africa have also imposed restrictions.

For example, passengers arriving in England from China now have to provide a negative Covid test before they board a flight. The US is testing people on arrival.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Former Pope Benedict XVI has died at his Vatican residence, aged 95, almost a decade after he stood down because of ailing health.

He led the Catholic Church for less than eight years until, in 2013, he became the first Pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.

Benedict spent his final years at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery within the walls of the Vatican.

His successor Pope Francis said he had visited him there frequently.

The Vatican said in a statement: “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.

“Further information will be provided as soon as possible.”

The Vatican said the body of the Pope Emeritus will be placed in St Peter’s Basilica from 2 January for “the greeting of the faithful”.

Plans for Pope Benedict’s funeral will be announced in the next few hours, the Vatican said.

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said Pope Benedict was “one of the great theologians of the 20th century”.

In a statement he said: “I remember with particular affection the remarkable Papal Visit to these lands in 2010. We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met.”

“He was through and through a gentleman, through and through a scholar, through and through a pastor, through and through a man of God – close to the Lord and always his humble servant.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

“He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was an historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country.

“My thoughts are with Catholic people in the UK and around the world today.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said: “My thoughts go out to Catholics in France and around the world, bereaved by the departure of His Holiness Benedict XVI, who worked with soul and intelligence for a more fraternal world.”

Although the former pontiff had been ill for some time, Vatican authorities said there had been an aggravation in his condition because of advancing age.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis appealed to his final audience of the year at the Vatican to “pray a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict”, whom he said was very ill.

Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, Benedict was 78 when in 2005 he became one of the oldest popes ever elected.

For much of his papacy, the Catholic Church faced allegations, legal claims and official reports into decades of child abuse by priests.

Earlier this year the former Pope acknowledged that errors had been made in the handling of abuse cases while he was archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982.

Source: BBC

The 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results are Ghana’s best in the last eight years, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has observed.

“Indeed, the free senior high school (SHS) era has seen systematic improvement over the pre-free SHS era,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo shared his observation at the 70th anniversary of the Opoku Ware SHS (OWASS) in Kumasi last Saturday, stressing that the 2022 WASSCE results of those students, which he preferred to call the ‘Akufo-Addo Graduates’, were splendid.

“I can state, without equivocation, that I am proud of the policy and of its results thus far,” he said.

WASSCE statistics

Performance statistics for the core subjects over the three years of the free SHS, as released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), show that in 2020, when the first batch of the free SHS beneficiaries wrote the WASSCE, 57.34 per cent passed in English, 65.71 per cent passed in Core Mathematics, while 52.53 and 64.31 per cent passed in Integrated Science and Social Studies, respectively.

In 2021, 54.08 passed in English, Core Mathematics recorded 54.11 per cent passes, with 65.70 per cent passing in Integrated Science and 66.03 per cent in Social Studies.

The President, happy with the data, further broke it down, saying: “This year, 61.39 per cent recorded A1 to C6 in Mathematics, compared to 33.12 per cent in 2016; 71.5 per cent recorded A1 to C6 in Social Studies, compared to 54.5 per cent in 2016; 62.45 per cent recorded A1-C6 in Integrated Science, compared to 48.35 per cent in 2016, while 60.39 per cent had A1 to C6 in English, compared to 51.6 per cent in 2016.”

Event

The 70th anniversary, which was on the theme: “Seven decades of leadership through self-discipline”, attracted many dignitaries, including the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II; the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum; the Juabenhene, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, who is an old boy of the school, as well as a host of the old boys, known as Akatakyie.

It was chaired by Justice Stephen Alan Brobbey, a former Justice of the Supreme Court and also alumnus of OWASS.

Guaranteeing the nation’s future

While admitting that there were still some bottlenecks associated with the implementation of the free SHS policy, President Akufo-Addo said six years on, the policy had guaranteed a minimum of SHS education for 1.3 million Ghanaian children — the highest such enrolment in Ghana’s history.

He noted that history and the experience of developed nations had shown that the most efficient way to create a society of opportunities and thereby guarantee the future of the nation was by investing in education and skills training of our youth.

“Without an educationed populace, we cannot transition from the status of a developing to a developed nation,” he emphasised.

The President emphasised that the country must have a belief that it could make its own unique contribution to the growth of wealth and be able to generate dignified standard of living for the masses of its people to build the Ghana Beyond Aid.

Goodwill messages

In a congratulatory message, Otumfuo Osei Tutu commended OWASS for being one of the oldest SHSs in Asanteman and maintaining standards with its quality education and continuously churning out men of integrity who were occupying various leadership positions in the country and across the globe.

He said 70 years of existence was worthy of commemoration and wished OWASS many more years of continued educational excellence, in service to God and country.

The Asantehene commended the church for helping to establish schools not only to provide quality education for the region but also establish its credentials as a strong eductional hub.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The National Service Scheme (NSS) has released 4,330 PIN Codes for registration by eligible Ghanaian-trained nurses of all accredited tertiary institutions in the country.

The registration will enable them to enrol for their mandatory national service for the 2022/2023 service year.

“All eligible trained nurses are therefore requested to log onto the Scheme’s website on www.nss.gov.gh to follow the online enrollment procedure.”

Registration

“The period of registration spans from Monday, November 28, 2022 to Monday, December 5, 2022. Assumption of national service is on Wednesday, 4th January, 2023,” a press release issued and signed by the Executive Director of the NSS, Osei Assibey Antwi, stated.

Management

The NSS management, therefore, directed all prospective national service persons to complete their enrolment on time.

“Management wishes to advise all eligible trained nurses to personally complete their online enrolment process within the stipulated period in order to avoid petty enrolment mistakes, and to ensure that only accurate information is provided,” it said.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Possible penalty overturn: Salisu foul on Ronaldo.

What happened: Portugal were awarded a penalty in the 62nd minute when Cristiano Ronaldo was knocked over by Mohammed Salisu.

VAR decision: Penalty stands, scored by Ronaldo.

VAR review: This only required a quick check by the VAR, United States referee Armando Villarreal.

Replays showed that Ronaldo definitely got to the ball first ahead of Salisu before there was contact on the Portugal striker’s boot and upper body.

Even though this could certainly be considered a soft penalty, we have to look at it in VAR terms; it would not be seen as a clear and obvious error by the match referee, fellow American official Ismail Elfath. Equally, if the referee hadn’t given the penalty, it’s unlikely the VAR would have advised a spot kick.

If Salisu had gotten to the ball first before Ronaldo, this would have been grounds for a full review, but unfortunately for the Ghana defender, he failed to do so.

Ronaldo also thought he had scored in the 31st minute, but the referee had already blown for a foul against him for a push on Alexander Djiku. The VAR is unable to review anything after the referee’s whistle, so he cannot look back at the foul to award the goal.

‘Referee gifted Portugal a penalty’ – Ghana coach Otto Addo

Ghana coach Otto Addo says the penalty scored by Cristiano Ronaldo during Ghana’s 3-2 loss to Portugal was a gift from the referee.

Ronaldo won and scored the penalty in the 65th to give Portugal the lead as he became the first man to score in five different editions of the FIFA World Cup.

However, Addo at the post-match conference at Stadium 974 after handling his first game at the World Cup said the American referee Ismail Elfath erred in awarding Portugal a penalty.

“I think it was a really wrong decision, we were playing the ball… I don’t know why VAR did not come up, there was no explanation for it,” said Addo.

“It was a wrong decision. It was actually a foul against us,” Addo stated.

He added: “If somebody scores a goal, congratulations. But this was a gift, really a gift.”

Addo disclosed that he tried to talk to the Major League Soccer referee about some of the decisions that went against Ghana after the game.

“I wanted to do it in a calm way but I was told he was in a meeting. He was not in our favour. We got a few yellow cards which were deserved but there was also holding of jerseys and stopping counterattacks that were also yellow cards but not given to them.”

Credit: ESPN

Presbyterian Boys Senior High School (PRESEC), Legon, made it a record of seven-time winners of the National Science and Maths Quiz on Wednesday night, when they pulled a final round surprise to overtake Kumasi based Prempeh College to win the ultimate in 2022.

They pulled the surprise in the final round 5 when they overtook Prempeh College who had led in the earlier rounds.

PRESEC ended the final round with 50 points as against 41 by Prempeh College and 32 points by Adisadel College.

From the KNUST campus in Kumasi, the Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School (PRESEC), Legon silenced the vociferous supporters of Prempeh College on home ground to secure the bragging rights as winners of this year’s National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ)

The keenly contested quiz lived up to its billing, as the two schools kept the pressure on each other, with Prempeh leading from the second to the fourth round by just a point.

However, in the fifth and final round, the boys from Legon in Accra answered three out of the five riddles to overtake Prempeh.

When PRESEC got the third riddle right, students of Prempeh College began to file out of the hall, as it had become clear to them that their school’s dream of lifting the trophy for a record-equalling sixth time could not materialise.

PRESEC, by Wednesday’s victory, has not only maintained its record as the school with the most wins in the competition — seven — but also widened the gap between it and Prempeh College in terms of winning the quiz to two.

‘Seven’ a living God

It was a sweet revenge for the PRESECANS who lost to Prempeh College last year, thereby being denied the opportunity to make it seven.

Prempeh College could not repeat last year’s thrilling performance of host-and-win to equal the record of their rivals in the NSMQ competition.

John Anim Tenkorang and Alfred Ken Nsiah of PRESEC made sure their school ‘saw light’ in the midst of the light in the hall.

Wednesday’s contest marked the 11th time PRESEC had appeared at the final of the competition, winning seven of them, while Prempeh College was at the final for the seventh time, winning five of them.

Adisadel College, on the other hand, made its seventh appearance at the final, winning only once.

Nostalgia

Sharing his experience as a NSMQ contestant for PRESEC in the 1997 competition, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah, said the competition ignited in him and his fellow contestants the passion to search for knowledge.

“Personally, the biggest experience in science is the process known to most of us as the scientific method. The meticulous empirical method has characterised the development of science. Science teaches us that it does not matter how smart or knowledgeable one is, one cannot hasten the process,” he said.

Mr Danquah urged the contestants and students in general not to relent in their quest to seek knowledge.

According to him, true scientists were not the ones who gave the right answers but rather “those who ask the right questions. The important thing is to never stop questioning.”

Interest

Otumfuo’s Hiahene, Oheneba Professor Boachie Adjei, who represented the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as the guest speaker, commended Primetime Limited, organisers of the quiz, for promoting the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) over the years.

He said the study and application of science played a pivotal role in the development of every country and called for the need to promote STEM to enable the country to produce the needed manpower that would spur its development.

Oheneba Adjei, who is an orthopaedic surgeon, said the NSMQ had, for the past 29years, sustained schools’ interest in science and commended the organisers for sustaining the competition, which had become nationally and internationally accepted.

He commended the finalists for making their schools proud and making it to the final stage of the competition.

Low enrolment

In a speech read on his behalf by the Chief Executive Officer of the Students Loan Trust, Nana Agyei Yeboah, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, deplored the low enrolment of students in science at the senior high schools (SHS) level.

He said currently, enrolment in science programmes at SHSs was 12 per cent, adding that as part of the effort to promote STEM, the government had renovated some science laboratories in SHSs and was building STEM schools throughout the country.

The minister said 10 STEM schools were being built, with four of them fully completed to expand access to STEM. In addition, Dr Adutwum said, the government was building girls’ STEM boarding schools to encourage women’s participation and interest in STEM.

Pilot

The Minister of Education said the government had also introduced pre-engineering courses for non-science students who would want to study science at the university.

He said the Pentecost University and the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, were currently piloting the programme, which targeted mainly Visual Arts students with the creative mind to venture into science.

Dr Adutwum said the access course was for a year after the student had been admitted to the preferred course.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

The National Service Scheme (NSS) has projected a bumper harvest from its farms in the country this year.

According to the Executive Director of the scheme, Osei Assibey Antwi, investments in the NSS agricultural programme, coupled with favourable weather conditions, had made prospects for a bumper harvest, especially of maize, look good.

“Everything is going on well; we are doing three cropping cycles for maize this year, with a projected produce of 24,000 tonnes per cycle, so we project to produce 72,000 metric tonnes of maize this year, which will be a major leap from last year’s 5,000 tonnes,” he said.

Mr Antwi, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic when he toured the scheme’s 140-acre maize farm at Branam in the Wenchi municipality in the Bono Region last Friday as part of his one-day working visit to the region, said the produce would be sold to generate revenue for the NSS.

Other farms

At the Kumawu Youth Farm, which is an agro-industrial zone, the scheme is cultivating 5,000 acres of maize, in addition to soya and rice, while there is a 150-acre maize farm in Ejura in the Ashanti Region.

There is also a 500-acre maize farm at Abutia Kpoeta in the Volta Region, with 400-acre maize farms in Damongo in the Savannah Region and Komenda in the Central Region.

Mr Antwi said land preparation was ongoing at the Ankaful and Gomoa Lome farms in the Central Region, Papao in the Greater Accra Region, Tantala-Yazebi in the Northern Region and Anweabeng in the Eastern Region.

The executive director said since the Russia-Ukraine war had resulted in a global food and fertiliser crisis, the NSS decided to rely on the application of organic fertiliser, which had so far been good.

Furthermore, he said, for the first time in the programme, a fully mechanised irrigation-supported project, which is also integrated in such a manner that nothing on the farm will go waste, was taking place on the Kumawu farms.

Mr Antwi said service persons who completed their one-year mandatory service and training at the various farms and were willing to venture into agriculture as a profession would be supported with resources to do that.

Collaboration

He also said the scheme was collaborating with traditional authorities across the country to acquire more farmlands.

Mr Antwi said organisations, such as the MasterCard Foundation, had accepted the NSS proposal to release funds to support the scheme’s farming agenda.

He was accompanied by the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Director of the scheme, Prince Kankam Boadu; the Deputy Director of the NSS, Kwaku Ohene Gyan, and the Business Development Officer at the NSS Head Office, Gabriel Osei.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Hundreds of houses around the Weija Dam have been flooded, leaving many residents displaced and in low spirits.

The flooding has also led to the destruction of items running into millions of Ghana cedis.

They include vehicles, home appliances, uncompleted structures, documents and other personal effects.

The flooding follows the opening of some spill gates of the dam by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).

This latest spillage, which was unannounced, was to spill excess water to save the dam from collapse due to the recent rains.

The areas affected include Oblogo, Tetegu, New Weija, SCC, Tatop, Sampa Valley, parts of Top Town and American Farm at Ngleshie Amanfro.

‘Tourist attraction’

Most of the affected places, including the Weija Dam site, have virtually become tourist attractions, as people troop there to catch glimpses of the situation after hearing of the flooding.

Others go to the dam site to see the volumes of water that are being spilled.

Yesterday when the Daily Graphic visited some of the affected areas, it observed that houses and vehicles were submerged in flood waters.

Residents, especially those affected and their relatives, friends and neighbours, could be seen gathered in groups discussing the issue.

Other residents could be seen wading through the flood to salvage any of their belongings they could lay hands on.

Some fishermen took advantage of the situation to earn some money by charging residents GH¢10 for the use of their canoe to help retrieve some belongings.

One victim at the Pharmatrust Hostel area, who did not want his name mentioned, noted that his entire house had been flooded and showed a video of the situation to this reporter.

He said he was at work last Monday afternoon when his wife called to tell him that spilled water from the dam was getting closer to their home.

He said because his house had never been flooded anytime the GWCL opened the spill gates, he thought it would not enter his place, only to experience the flooding this morning.

Asked where he was relocating to as he carted his belongings with the assistance of some young men who also rescued his three dogs from the house, he said: “I have another house and that is where we are going to.”

Another victim, Anthony Acquah, who said he had lived in the area for about five years now, said he had never seen such flooding in his area before, adding that the situation could have been managed with better communication.

On seeing the danger, he said, he had to relocate his wife and children to a safe haven and then take his vital documents.

Another victim, Jacob Quaye, said he had lived in the Weija area for five years and had never experienced flooding of such magnitude.

Unannounced spillage

Many of the victims blamed the GWCL authorities for not handling the situation well, as there was no prior notice of this particular spillage.

When contacted, the Unit Committee Member for Weija, Elder Amponsah Ampaw, said having lived at Weija for over 20 years, he had never seen anything like that before.

He blamed the situation on the failure of the new manager at the Weija Water Works to heed the advice of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to start opening the gates in bits to allow the free flow of water from the Eastern Region.

He said people had lost many items through the flood, as they could not enter their homes to pick them before the flooding took over.

For now, Elder Ampaw said, he was trying to get a place for himself and his family, after which he would take the matter up at the assembly.

When contacted, the Weija/Gbawe Municipal Director of NADMO, Emmanuel Adu Boahen, said the organisation had, between last Monday and yesterday, been able to rescue more than 25 people who got trapped in their homes.

He said the municipal and the regional offices of the organisation had gone round to assess the situation and it was dire.

“Together with support from the Regional NADMO, we are at the estuary to open it to pave the way for the water to flow. The situation is terrible and we are working on it,” he said.

GWCL

Meanwhile, the GWCL said because of the severity of the situation at the dam, it had opened four spill gates for water to flow and save the integrity of the dam.

A statement signed by the Head of Public Relations and Communications of the GWCL, Stanley Martey, said: “The Weija Dam is currently at the level of 49.5 feet, as against the maximum operating level of 48 feet.

“Spillage normally begins when the level gets to 46.5 feet. As a result, four spill gates have been opened to safeguard the integrity of the dam, save the dam from collapse and save lives and properties.”

Mr Martey also said while there was no prior warning about that particular spillage, the GWCL had, since last April, been cautioning residents about a possible spillage due to the water level.

The public, it said, could call or Whatsapp the GWCL on 0555123393, 0555155524, 0207385088, 0207385089 or 0207385090.

The toll-free line is 0800 40 000 for Vodafone cell and land lines only and 0302 218240 for all other networks.

Source: Graphic.com.gh