Accra: Chiefs demand compensation over siting of Weija Dam

The Weija Traditional Council is demanding compensation from government over the siting of the Weija Dam on its land.

The Traditional Council says 44 years after their forefathers gave the government over 50,000 acres of land for the construction of the dam, they are yet to receive any compensation.

At a press conference to pour out their frustrations to the government over delays in the payments of compensations to the Weija Traditional Council, the chiefs and people of Weija expressed their disappointment at the government for the delays.

According to them, their forefathers gave the land to the government for the construction of the Weija dam, which has been serving the needs of many Ghanaians across the length and breadth of the country for over forty-four years.

They indicated that during the time of former President John Agyekum Kufuor and late President John Evans Atta Mills, they made several attempts to draw the attention of the government, but it yielded no result.

The Traditional Council however wants the government to speed up processes for the compensations to be paid to its rightful owners.

Here is the Dzaasetse of Weija, Nii Danyinase I, speaking to Citi News about the development.

“Our town has become overpopulated and the inhabitants do not have places to lay their heads. They should show us the boundaries for us to know our no-go area. We are by this also appealing to the government to give us a portion of the land to give our inhabitants places to live.”

Quite apart from these challenges, the traditional council also denied reports that it has given portions of the buffer zone to developers for sand-winning activities, threatening the very existence of the dam.

According to them, the Weija Community has overgrown and there is the need for government to release portions of the over 50,000-acre land aside from the buffer zone to traditional authorities for development.

—citinewsroom