The Voice of Ave-Dakpa, a civil society organisation in the Akatsi North District of the Volta region is debunking claims that it was the intervention of the Member of Parliament that led to the restoration of water supply in the area.
Reacting to a recent skewed media report which cited MP for the area, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe for providing solution to the Ave-Dakpa water problems, Secretary-General of the Voice of Ave-Dakpa, Mr Godwin Ayisu said the facts on the ground do not support the claim.
“Why do we want to hide the truth? When this situation of electricity bills to Ave-Dakpa Water Board arose four months ago, the District Assembly and the MP did not care. They did not respond timely. It was Dr Donald Agumenu of Ave-Xevi who responded to our cries and led us to ECG Denu to pay parts of the bill. The action immediately led to reconnection of electricity for the pumping of water to begin.
“The truth is just one. At that time, the MP was nowhere to be found. Key District Assembly members were also nowhere to be found. Let us give credit when its due and condemn when appropriate,” he stated.
In a voice note shared on the Voice of Ave-Dakpa WhatsApp platform, Mr Ayisu asked his colleagues and all indigenes of the area to embrace anybody who has the development of the district at heart and support them to deliver.
For over three months inching to the close of 2021, Ave-Dakpa, the capital of Akatsi North District was without potable water owing to a cut in electricity as outstanding bills choked the operations of the Community Water & Sanitation Board including some installation works.
Though the MP for Akatsi North later responded, directing that money should be withdrawn from the District Assembly Common Fund to defray the total indebtedness of some 13,000 Ghana Cedis, opinion leaders including the chief of the area impressed on Dr Donald Agumenu to help quickly as bureaucratic bottlenecks would underpin the former’s gesture.
Specifically, the Paramount Chief of Dakpa, Torgbuiga Nyamekor Glakpe V appealed to Dr Agumenu to assist as a matter of urgency since water scarcity was having a severe toll on the lives of his subjects.
Dr Agumenu with his team subsequently went to the ECG Denu office and paid off 4,000.00 Ghana Cedis on 20th December 2021. Power was immediately reconnected.
After the problem of electricity and water flow were solved including installation repairs with the support from opinion leaders, the MP of the area interestingly went ahead on January 5th 2022 and paid a total amount of Ghc 13,832.00 to the ECG as the outstanding balance.
Though water is now being pumped regularly in Ave-Dakpa, questions of accountability still linger for answers.
The Community Water & Sanitation Board has superintended the sale of water for three years in Ave-Dakpa without rendering accounts.
Mr Ayisu said together with his colleagues in the Voice of Ave-Dakpa group, they would continue to pursue the board members until they render accounts of their stewardship.
Source: 3news
