The North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has lambasted the Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Freda Prempeh for saying that victims of the Akosombo Dam-induced floods refused to evacuate when they were asked to.

In a post on X (Twitter) on Tuesday, October 24, Mr Ablakwa insisted that the Minister peddled falsehood.

The lawmaker thus dared her to provide proof of the said simulation and where the residents were going to be sent to.

Sanitation Minister, Freda Prempeh should stop peddling falsehoods from the pit of hell.

There was absolutely no effort by government to evacuate the over 30,000 people affected by the VRA-induced floods.

Can she tell us where they had intended to evacuate my constituents to?…

— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) October 24, 2023

"Sanitation Minister, Freda Prempeh should stop peddling falsehood from the pit of hell. There was absolutely no effort by the government to evacuate the over 30,000 people affected by the VRA-induced floods. Can she tell us where they had intended to evacuate my constituents? Is it the classrooms where they are forced to be now under extremely inhumane conditions?"

"Where is the proof of alternative housing arrangements made by the government?"

The Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Freda Prempeh has blamed victims of the floods induced by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam for not heeding early warnings by the Volta River Authority and other state agencies to evacuate.

Speaking at a forum organized by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and its customers in Accra on Monday, October 23, she blamed the extent of damage caused by the Akosombo dam spillage on the refusal of residents living along the dam to evacuate.

The Minister said the residents refused to relocate until the unfortunate incident happened, making them a burden to the government.

She noted that “the Akosombo dam spillage, even though Volta River Authority, National Disaster Management Organisation, the Water Resources Commission, came together to educate the people in the community and did simulation exercises with them even at Mepe, they refused to leave. They did not want to be evacuated, and they stayed there till the end when we started spilling.”

“Unfortunately, look at what is happening, and the government has to spend millions of money on relief items, and education. The water in the whole area is contaminated and the Ghana Water Company and Water Resources Commission would have to spend millions of money to treat the water before we can pass it through our pipes.”