Floods Ruin Nkrumah�s Hometown

A torrential rainfall which hit the Western Region on Wednesday, this week, and lasted more than eight hours has rendered hundreds of people homeless in both Nzema East and West districts. The worst hit is Nkroful, the hometown of Ghana�s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Property worth several thousands of Ghana cedis were destroyed by the flood caused by the heavy downpour. Communities such as Asasetre, Idubrim, and Telekobukazo were all flooded with rain water, making movement around the area virtually impossible. The Omanhene of Lower Axim and President of Western Regional House of Chiefs, Awuale Atiburkusu had to be rescued from his palace by canoe, through the help of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) team in Axim. Two people were also reported dead in the area. The District Director of NADMO, Mr. Francis Bob Etsuah confirmed that his team rescued the Omanhene, who was trapped in his Palace by the flood water. He attributed the flood situation in the Axim community to the closeness of some of the houses to the sea, including the Omanhene�s Palace. At Nkroful, members of the community could not cross over to Esiama, because the road linking the two major towns were taken over by flood. Farmers who had also crossed over from Esiama to Nkroful could not get back to the town because of the situation. At Telekobukazo and Elunlibo, about 120 houses collapsed and many people were displaced, while the whole community, including basic schools, got flooded. The quick response from the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele and also Deputy Minister for Energy, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, the District Chief Executive (DCE) Daniel K Eshun and the National and Regional rapid response team helped to save the situation as they brought relief items including roofing sheets, food items and used clothes to the victims. Addressing the media after three hours of accessing the situation on the ground, the Deputy Minister for Energy and MP for Ellembele constituency Hon. Kofi Buah sympathized with the victims and promised that government would always come to their aid in situations like these. He also promised that the government would come out with plans to find a lasting solution to the perennial problems. Meanwhile the Regional Director of NADMO, Mr. Padmor Yonkopa Arthur and his team, as well as the MP and DCE were among the entourage that joined the rapid response team to visit the Nzema Akropong community, which was left unattended to on Wednesday, because there was no access to the community. The team had to visit the community by air on Thursday because all access roads had been destroyed by the rampaging flood waters. Experts have attributed the flood, especially at Axim, to lack of sea defense wall in the area. In the Nkroful Township and surrounding areas, the situation is being attributed to three rivers which have sandwiched the town and overflows its banks during heavy downpour like was experienced. Messrs Bonzo Nyame 62, Madam Elizabeth Bunglo 50, Kwesi Yarn 76, who spoke to The Chronicle were, however, not surprised with the tragedy, giving the situation a superstitious twist. According to them, when the late Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966, there was a heavy downpour that year, and as the African continent celebrates his centenary, similar rains have fallen.