The Ministry of Energy has refuted claims that the Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh engaged in unsubstantiated fact in his address to Parliament on measures taken by the government to provide relief for the people affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.

In a statement released on Monday, November 13 2023, the Ministry of Energy described claims that the Energy Minster, Dr Matthew Opoku- Prempeh’s address to Parliament was made up of unsubstantiated fact as a ‘distortion’ of information.

According to the Energy Ministry, such ‘distortion’ may be borne either out of a ‘genuine lack of knowledge’ or ‘deliberate distortions’, clearly intended to achieve political and electoral gains, and also to cause disaffection for the Honorable Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh.

“The attention of the Ministry of Energy has been drawn to distortions in news publications, on the update in Parliament by the Hon. Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh on the Akosombo and Kpong Dam spillage by the Volta River Authority (VRA). The Ministry would like to put on record that, the Minister never peddled falsehoods in Parliament”.
Ministry of Energy

The statement by the Ministry further indicated that the Volta River Authority (VRA) embarked on the spillage of the Akosombo dam to protect the integrity of the dam and to avert any ‘catastrophic consequence’ from the collapse of the dam.

Again, the Ministry of Energy’s statement stressed that before the spillage of the Akosombo dam, particularly in May 2023, the Volta River Authority and the National Disaster Management Organization conducted a live simulation exercise in Mepe, one of the communities affected by the flood resulting from the spillage of the Akosombo dam.

Moreover, the Ministry of Energy recounted that the Volta River Authority, the National Disaster Management Organization, the Inter-Ministerial Committee set up by President Akufo-Addo to coordinate government response to the dam spillage together with Civil Society Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations and other well-meaning Ghanaians, have supported and continue to support the communities affected by the spillage.

More so, the Energy Ministry emphasized that Members of Parliament in partnership with the Volta River Authority, the National Disaster Management Organization and the Inter-ministerial Committee set up by President Akufo-Addo to coordinate government response to the dam spillage have also been assisting victims with relief items to be distributed to the affected communities.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the above information is the key facts contained in the Honorable Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku-Prempeh ’s statement on the floor of the Parliament as captured in the ‘Hansard of November 8, 2023’.

Ministry Accuses Some Members Of The Public Of Engaging In ‘Populist Agenda’

On the back of the account, the Ministry thus asserted that, some persons are deliberately engaging in a ‘populist agenda’ by, ‘exploiting the pain’ of the affected persons on the altar of ‘political expediency’.

The Ministry therefore described the move by some group of the public to distort the Minister’s statement as ‘unnecessary’ as according to the Ministry such an attempt will only exacerbate the pain of the affected people and also worsen their plight.

“The Minister nor his assigns do not intend to engage in a banter with any person or group of persons, because in the Minister’s view, what is important, is the alleviation of the plight and ‘back to normal life’ of the people”
Ministry of Energy

The Ministry of Energy therefore urged the general public to continue to support the government to roll-out its coordinated response to the Akosombo dam spillage, together with the Volta River Authority, National Disaster Management Organization, the Inter-Ministerial Committee set up by President Akufo-Addo to coordinate government’s response to the dam spillage.

“The Energy Minister reiterates his sympathies to the affected areas and thus, we ask the general public to treat these twisted narratives with the utmost contempt they deserve”.
Ministry of Energy