The Member of Parliament (MP) for Lawra, Hon. Bede A. Ziedeng, has made a stirring call to Parliament and the nation following the tragic drowning of seven Lawra Senior High School students in the Black Volta River at Dikpe.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Hon. Ziedeng described the incident as “tragic and avoidable,” calling for immediate interventions including the provision of life jackets, public education on water safety, and the construction of the long-delayed Dikpe bridge.
His statement prompted a directive for the head of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ghana, Major (Rtd) Dr. Joseph Bikanyi Kuyon, to be invited to brief Parliament on the matter.
“It is with a heart weighed down by sorrow and a deep sense of loss that I rise to draw the attention of this honourable House, and indeed the entire nation, to a tragic and avoidable incident that occurred in the Lawra Constituency”
Hon. Bede A. Ziedeng, MP For Lawra
The students, who belonged to the school’s cadet corps, had reportedly gone jogging on the morning of Saturday, 14th June 2025. Out of sixteen students who made the trip to the riverside, ten – eight girls and two boys – boarded a canoe operated by a young boy to cross into Burkina Faso’s side of the river.
“In the course of the trip, water began to enter the boat. The students tried to evacuate the water but more water entered into the canoe and it started sinking. They got frightened and decided to jump out of the canoe and swim out of the water”
Hon. Bede A. Ziedeng, MP For Lawra
However, most of them were not trained swimmers. While their commander, who remained ashore, dove into the water and managed to rescue three, seven students tragically drowned.
Hon. Ziedeng recounted how he received the news through Mr. Simon Dery, an NDC executive in Lawra. The loss of life, he said, has left the entire community shaken.
“Mr. Speaker, these were not just students – they were the hope of their families, the pride of their school, and the future of our nation. Their sudden and untimely death has left their families shattered, their peers traumatized, and our community in mourning”
Hon. Bede A. Ziedeng, MP For Lawra
The Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, officials from NADMO, the National Security office, and the Regional Minister all travelled to Lawra in the aftermath of the tragedy. The MP described the day as a “black Saturday” that devastated not just the school but the broader constituency.
The MP indicated that five bodies were recovered on the day of the incident and two more were found the following day.
Call for Prevention
Hon. Ziedeng stressed that poor judgment contributed to the loss. “Obviously the decision of all the 10 students to join the canoe was one,” he said, citing that if only about half of that number or even less had joined the canoe, the catastrophe could have probably been avoided.
The MP described the tragedy as a wake up call for everyone to be more cautious about their safety since life is “unpredictable.” He particularly admonished all students to conduct themselves with utmost care when they “leave their parental homes,” and are put in the care of school authorities.
“I believe that what happened could have been avoided if there were life jackets available to the students. Unfortunately, there was none”
Hon. Bede A. Ziedeng, MP For Lawra
The MP noted that this absence of life jackets significantly worsened the situation. He urged NADMO to promptly correct the lack, by equipping all riverine communities along the Black Volta with safety gear for their commute via river boats.
“This disaster will certainly put avoidable stress on the school authorities as well as a huge financial burden on the bereaved families” he expressed. In a personal effort to prevent similar future incidents, the MP revealed his commitment to supplying ten life jackets immediately to the Dikpe area.
“This should not be allowed to happen again,” Hon. Ziedeng declared, urging further preventive steps including public education on safety and security. He appealed to NADMO, the Regional Coordinating Council and the Lawra Municipal Assembly to come to the aid of Lawra Senior High School and the bereaved families by providing support to them in these trying moments.
The Lawra MP linked the incident to the stalled Dikpe Bridge project, a laudable initiative by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2020. He bemoaned the project’s neglect and abandoned site, now overrun by rodents and reptiles.
“The time has come for us to rise above partisanship and political point-scoring. The safety and development of our people must take precedence”
Hon. Bede A. Ziedeng, MP For Lawra
Hon. Ziedeng referred to the tragic incident as “a national wake-up call – an alarm bell, sounding from the banks of the Black Volta at Dikpe,” urging the government to act. He appealed directly to the Minister for Roads and Highways to revive the bridge project, stating that its completion must now be treated as an emergency and matter of national priority.
In closing, the MP revealed that he had sent a delegation to console the school and affected families and warned the house to not not allow the dreams of Ghana’s young people be buried beneath the waters of negligence.
“Let this House remember these seven students – not just with words, but with action,” he charged.
