The Minority Caucus in Parliament has called on the government to take urgent steps to improve safety on Ghana’s inland waterways following a tragic boat accident on the Volta Lake near Kete Krachi on October 11, 2025, which claimed 15 lives.
In a statement signed by Kennedy Nyarko Osei, Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Roads and Transportation, the Caucus expressed condolences to the bereaved families and criticized the government’s failure to act decisively on recurring accidents on the lake.
The statement recalled that in 2020, the then-NPP government secured a 150 million US dollar facility from the Korean Exim Bank to finance the modernization of inland water transport systems and install floating pontoons under the Volta Lake Transport Limited project.
It further noted that a comprehensive feasibility study conducted by Vision Consult, a Ghanaian firm, had already identified the infrastructure and strategies required to transform the Volta Lake into a safe and efficient waterway that integrates with the country’s broader multimodal transport system.
The Minority said the current government must treat the project as a matter of national urgency and ensure the immediate release and utilization of the funds to execute it.
Any further delay, it warned, would amount to a failure to protect the nearly two million Ghanaians who rely on the lake for transportation and livelihood.
A portion of the statement noted, “Furthermore, the Minority Caucus insists that the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) must immediately step up its mandate to regulate inland water transport on the Volta Lake and other navigational routes in the Afram Plains.
This must include the strict registration of all pontoons and vessels, and the rigorous enforcement of loading regulations to eliminate the practice of overloading.”
According to the Minority, the Volta Lake remains a crucial national asset, and it is the collective responsibility of the government to act decisively to protect lives and ensure safer inland water transport for all Ghanaians.
Below is a copy of the statement
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
