SOLIDARITY MESSAGE FROM THE CONFERENCE OF MAJOR SUPERIORS OF RELIGIOUS-GHANA (CMSR-GH) TO VICTIMS OF THE VOLTA RIVER SPILLAGE IN SOME PARTS OF VOLTA AND EASTERN REGIONS OF GHANA
The Conference of Major Superiors of Religious of the Catholic Church in Ghana is overwhelmed and shocked with the magnitude and extent of the disaster and havoc caused to the people living around the lower Volta basin by the spillage of excess water from the Akosombo dam of 12th October, 2023. It is heart wrecking and unfathomable when one considers the fact that this is a man-made disaster which could have been better managed. Although occasion by unprecedented rainfall, it is difficult to accept that this was so sudden and unforeseen that adequate preparations towards an eventual spillage could not be made to curtail the extent of damage.
We members of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious – Ghana (CMSR-Gh), would like to express our solidarity and proximity with all the victims of this unfortunate disaster. We are wholeheartedly with you in spirit and praying for strength and resilience for you and your families in this difficult time of tragic displacement, discomfort and loss of property.
We wish to add our voice to that of the Catholic Bishops and the good people of our country Ghana to convey our sympathy during this catastrophic and national disaster. We call on all Consecrated Women and Men and all people of goodwill to generously support in their own little ways the relief efforts underway in their various Dioceses, by the Conference of Major Superiors and by Caritas, Ghana and other state and non-state agencies. The devastation is massive and the people of Mepe, Battor, Vume and all the affected areas need all the help and support they can get.. Nothing is too small and nothing is too big. This is the moment to show solidarity and oneness in our universal brotherhood.
As a people and as a nation, this is a wake up call for us. If a man-made disaster which could have been planned better has caught us unprepared how responsive would we be in the face of a natural disaster of higher magnitude. Is it the question that we have become so used to perennial spillage and consequent flooding of homes and farmlands from the Bugre and Waija dams that the untold suffering of the people are taken for grant. Governments, past and present, seems to pay lipservice to doing anything to perpetually resolve the problem. We therefore call on Government and all state agencies as a matter of urgency to come out with concrete remedies to forestall any future occurrence.
We pray for the victims and their families, and we stand in solidarity with them in these very difficult moments of their lives. May God impart you with all the strength to get over the loss caused by this disaster. May he make you come out of this stronger, better, and united.
Peace and Grace
Rev. Fr Paul Saa-Dade Ennin, SMA
President, CMSR-Gh
18 October 2023
