President Akufo-Addo has assured communities agitating about the size of dams being built in the north of the country that, his administration will look into the claims.

He acknowledged there are all kinds of criticisms being made about other government policies but he will ensure the truth of the dam issue is made public.

“Unfortunately, for us in Ghana, it is difficult to take what you see in the newspapers as the gospel,” he told chiefs and elders of the Navrongo Traditional Council at the Jubilee House, who paid a courtesy call on him.

The President’s assurance follows concerns raised by chiefs in Upper East that, the size of the dams being constructed can best be described as dugouts and not dams.

Government’s One Village One Dam promise has come under criticism as some residents of the Upper East region have begun to question the construction of some of the supposed dams.

Although the projects are at various stages of completion, these residents say work done so far is sloppy.

According to the residents who spoke to A1 Radio’s Joshua Asaa, what has been constructed are not dams but dugouts. They go on to describe work done so far as disappointing.

The weather pattern in the northern parts of Ghana is characterised by low rainfalls and prolonged periods of drought.

For this reason, farmers in the region, unlike their counterparts in the south, cannot engage in all-year-round cultivation of crops. They also lose many of their livestock because the animals die of thirst in the dry seasons.

Zuarungu Gono Dam

The end result of this is the migration of the youth to the southern parts, in search of almost non-existent greener pastures.

To help mitigate this problem, President Nana Akufo-Addo, as flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party in 2016, made a campaign promise to construct dams in every village in the Northern part of the country.

Related: Give us promised dams not dugouts - Disappointed U/E residents to gov't

Nana Akufo-Addo with the Chief of Sekote

Fast forward to 2019, President Akufo-Addo’s government is in its third year but not much is seen of the well-touted ‘1 Village, 1 Dam’ policy in the Upper East region.

The region was allocated 140 of the dams promised but so far, only 40 are said to have been constructed in all the 15 municipalities and districts. 

Apart from what the residents describe as poor quality of the dams, they say the contractors have failed to put safety measures around them. 

In Bongo and Bolgatanga the residents see the dams as death traps having claimed six lives in the two areas.

But President Akufo-Addo said he will look into the issue after he is well informed and not take action from reports in the media. 

“Sometimes you go into matters and you realise the matter is the opposite...after looking into it we will have an appropriate discussion on it,” he said.