Wednesday, 2nd July, 2025
Hon Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka
Asawase
Mr Speaker, on Saturday, 14th June, 2025, at around 0913 hours, the Headmaster of Lawra Senior High School, Mr Primus Bero, reported to the Lawra Police Command Reported to the Lawra Police Command on telephone that Lawra Senior High School cadet comprising 16 students led by Mr Speaker, Mr Primus Bero reported to the Lawra Police Command on telephone that Lawra Senior High School cadet comprising 16 students led by a cadet leader went jogging along the LawraDikpe Road.
The cadet leader later called to inform the headmaster that on reaching the Dikpe River, that is the Black Volta, 10 of the students, in the process of crossing the river to the Burkina Faso side and back with a canoe being paddled by a young man they encountered, the canoe capsized midstream which led to seven students drowning, with only three surviving.
Mr Speaker, the police team, led by the District Commander, immediately proceeded to the scene and joined the Dikpe community in organising a search party under the Leadership of the chief of Dikpe. The search party managed to recover the bodies of the students, which have subsequently been released to their families for burial.
Mr Speaker, the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), through coordinated efforts with all relevant agencies, have put in place the following measures:
1. Regular sensitisation of canoe owners, operators and residents along the Black Volta Basin.
2. Sensitisation of students and identifiable bodies on maritime safety.
3. The Ghana Maritime Authority has provided life jackets to canoe operators along the river.
4. The Ghana Maritime Authority to conduct regular monitoring of the canoe operators to ensure that they use these life jackets that are given them for the safety of users on the river.
5. Ensure all canoes are regularly maintained.
6. Provide psychosocial assistance to students of the Lawra Senior High, especially the three that survived.
Mr Speaker, it is expected that these measures put in place by the Upper West Regional Security Council will avert the future occurrence of this unfortunate incident that has taken the lives of these future leaders.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh
Nsawam/Adoagyiri
Mr Speaker, let me thank my Colleague and Friend for paying attention and responding to the need for his outfit to come and brief and apprise the House on such matters.
I see my Colleague, Hon Bede Ziedeng, who raised the matter showing his solidarity to the family and the constituency. I am happy the Minister has walked us through the statistics, the fatalities and the measures put in place to track and deal with these matters. I concede that it is a good effort, but I wonder what the role of the Minister for Transport would be in this context. I am under the impression that the canoes that move on these water bodies are under the purview of the Minister for Transport. Of course, there are security angles to it, which he has handled well.
I commend my Colleague, the Minister, but I will urge him to relate to the Minister for Transport. I am sure they will have professionals who can also help in the work they do on these water bodies. Having said this, our hearts go out there to the affected victims and their families. I would also like to urge the Minister to work closely with adjoining constituencies and the Member of Parliament who was affected, so that the families could be assisted in these difficult times.
Mr Speaker, having said this, I commend my Minister for paying heed to the call and wish the family my deepest condolences.
Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Hon Bede Anwataazumo Ziedeng
Lawra
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to make some comments on the Statement which have been made by the Hon Minister for the Interior.
Let me start by thanking him for coming to brief the House as to what his Ministry and the other agencies are doing to ameliorate the difficulties that the people are going through.
Mr Speaker, that incident is, indeed, a very sad situation for us and Lawra was not comfortable when that incident happened. There was serious mourning in Lawra, both in the school and the town. But with time, they have been able to overcome that difficulty. When the incident happened, besides the Statement I made in this House, I also took other steps to ensure that the situation was brought under control.
I first went to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and informed the Director-General about the incident and appealed to him to try to provide life jackets for communities along the Black Volta and he agreed that he would try to do so, but, immediately, he did not have life jackets to provide to those communities. I then moved to the Ghana Maritime Authority and informed the Director General about the situation in Lawra. Again, he agreed that he was going to provide the life jackets immediately.
Mr Speaker, I can report to you that the Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority has visited Lawra with his team, and they have made the following donations to the people of Lawra, and in particular, Dikpe. They have provided five communities with life jackets. Each community has a number of life jackets that they will use throughout the period. There are five communities, so each one will get six life jackets, and they are supposed to use the life jackets when they are travelling on the boats. For the bereaved families, they tried to provide them with a little support.
Each bereaved family got five bags of 50-kilogramme rice and GH₵5,000. There were three students who survived, and they gave them GH₵2,000 each. It went to the students themselves because they are alive, but the GH₵5,000 went to each bereaved family. We also realised that one of the reasons the accident happened was because the canoe which was used is a wooden canoe, and it is an old canoe which can easily leak. So, I discussed with the Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority as to whether it is not possible to have some metal canoes, so that there is no opportunity for any water to leak into the canoe. I think that he has considered that particular proposal, and they will be working on it.
Finally, Mr Speaker, the Ghana Maritime Authority has also agreed, going forward, to provide what they call Marine Guards in all the communities which run along the Black Volta, and these Marine Guards would be stationed there, whether two or three, and they will be there all the time. They will provide guidance to all people who are commuting between the two countries and ensure that proper protocols are upheld when they are using the canoes. So, I think that is a very good measure that will be put in place, and if it is done, I am sure that it will reduce the incidence of these accidents.
Mr Speaker, I think so far, this is what we have done Mr Speaker, I think so far, we have tried to comfort the bereaved families. We have visited them and delegations have visited them, and fortunately for us, they have been able to perform funeral rites all of them. The other three are still recuperating in the school.
With these few words, Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity.
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