A former Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Ing. Isaac Kirk Koffi, has identified three key factors that contributed to the widespread devastation during the Akosombo Dam spillage in September 2023 .
The VRA conducted a controlled spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams as a preventive measure to safeguard the structural integrity of the dams, leading to the submerging of thousands of homes in most communities downstream.
The move which quickly turned catastrophic ended up displaciing thousands of residents in the affected communities.
The newly elected Mahama-led administration committed to investigating the causes of the flooding directed the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, to inaugurate a five-member committee to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The committee which was unveiled on March 14, 2025 was led by Ing. Koffi, who believes settlement patterns downstream is a major cause of such disasters.
He also mentioned of technical decisions, and poor stakeholder coordination as some of the causes of the crisis.
“Human Nature: People are living in some of the flood zones, both upstream and downstream. Going forward, we think those areas should be protected. There should be an LI where areas within the downstream are protected,” he said during an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.
He continued, “Because, as it has happened, we can see it happening in the future. When nobody stays there, anytime there is a spillage, human activities in those areas are not affected.”
He also noted that while the dam itself remained structurally sound, aspects of the technical response were inadequate.
“The Dam Itself: The decision to spill was taken, but it wasn’t safeguarded. Elsewhere, dams have collapsed; certain things did not work well. It was either their gates could not open, but in this case, they were able to open the gates, and they spilled the water that needed to go out.”
“Nevertheless, the amount of water they spilled is something we can also talk about later. Also, the spillage was a result of inflow, which was more than what was expected,” he added.
On inter-agency coordination, Ing. Koffi noted gaps that, in his view, worsened the impact of the spillage.
“The cooperation between the stakeholders, we think there were some deficiencies over there, and that must be worked on, like the Emergency Preparedness Plan,” he explained.
The Committee is expected to submit its findings and recommendations to help prevent a recurrence of such disasters in the future.
