The chiefs and people of Atimpoku in the Eastern Region have expressed concern over the failure of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the government of Ghana to pay them compensation in respect of the land acquired for the establishment of the Adomi Bridge and the Akosombo Dam.
The traditional leaders speaking through the Gyasehene of Atimpoku, Nana Obeng Akrofi demanded documents of agreements between the government of Ghana and the custodians of the land prior to the commencement of works on the facility in March 1955.
Speaking to GhanaWeb on the Adomi Bridge, the Gyasehene said knowing the true status of any existing agreements would be in the best interest of the chiefs and people of Atimpoku.
“Since the construction of the bridge, we are not aware of any documents and agreements on the bridge. Even when the tolls were being collected, we the traditional leaders were tolled anytime we crossed the bridge,” averred the Gyasehene. “We have not taken any compensation [for the bridge], not even one cedi.
"If there were any agreements before the bridge was put up, the government should let us know what agreements they had with our forefathers and what is due us paid to us,” he added.
Nana Obeng Akrofi said efforts to ascertain the true facts of the issue through discussions with the [Asuogyaman] District Assembly and authorities of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) have proven futile. He asserted:
“We have had several discussions with authorities of the [Asuogyaman] District Assembly and the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) but we don’t know if there are any agreements so we are demanding the documents to know the agreements they had with our forefathers.”
The traditional leader who insisted that royalties and compensations must be paid if such agreements were reached prior to the construction of the bridge, lamented that the community lost large sections of its lands for purposes of the project.
“If we go to our lands, they tell us, 'government acquired lands for the bridge' and though nothing was paid to us, the government sells the lands. The lands commission also leases the lands to individuals for money."
Asked if the traditional authorities would demand compensation if no such agreements were reached, he answered, “We would demand if given the go-ahead by the Omanhene.”
Reasons behind their calls for compensation and royalties, explained the Gyasehene, were not only for the construction of the facility but the compulsory acquisition of the lands from the people without any financial agreements.
“It is not just for the bridge but the government took all the lands bordering the Volta Lake without paying anything to the chiefs. So if they have taken the lands on which we can do something and they’re putting up buildings on it, then there’s the need for documents to disclose what was agreed upon.”
Tree felling along the Volta Lake
He furthered that an agreement was also reached to preserve the forestry along the borders of Volta Lake to protect the water body.
According to him, residents of the affected communities during the construction of the dam were supposed to be exempted from the payment of electricity bills but this agreement was not respected by the Volta River Authority (VRA), forcing residents to fell trees along the banks of the lake which are burnt into charcoal.
“Here in Asuogyaman, we have the Akosombo Dam by the government but we’re not aware of the agreements reached between the government and our forefathers. However, we are aware that tree felling is prohibited within 32 miles radius of the dam, and access to electricity was supposed to be free [for all affected communities] to enhance rainfall to enable the Akosombo dam to function,” said Nana Obeng Akrofi, adding however that “because we were charged for electricity bills, all the trees have been felled for charcoal production resulting in low rainfall patterns here.”
Nana furthered that the VRA has also failed to pay compensations to its 52 resettlement areas across the country.
According to him, the Authority also demanded the remaining lands from the communities to enable them to engage in mango farming which it failed to do.
“The VRA engaged us and after all our lands were taken without compensating us, they stopped us from farming on our lands close to the lake with the explanation that they were going to undertake mango farming, this too, they couldn’t do,” he revealed.
He, therefore, called on the government to make available any agreements bordering on the construction of the dam to enable the custodians of the land to know the terms and circumstances under which their lands were claimed.
Gyasehene of Atimpoku, Nana Obeng Akrofi