By Kingsley Webora TANKEH
Contributing to relief efforts underway to salvage victims devastated by the tidal wave that swept through some costal communities in the Ketu South municipality and bring life back to normalcy, the National Lottery Authority, through its Good Causes Foundation has made a donation of GH¢100,000 to help mitigate the natural disaster’s impact.
Agavedzi, Amutinu and Salakope were the most affected areas.
Presenting the donation, Director-General of the National Lottery Authority Mohammed Abdul-Salam said: “We have decided to show a bit of empathy by contributing our widow’s mite. We are making a donation of GH¢100,000 through the Volta Regional Minister to the affected victims”.
“We do know this is woefully inadequate with regard to the volume of support being requested,” he added.
However, he stressed that the authority stands ready to continually offer support for the victims to restore their lives, livelihoods and shelter.
The Municipal Chief Executive of Ketu South, Nicholas Kwabla Worclachie, expressed gratitude for the kind gesture – stressing that it will go a long way to help in the relief efforts.
“We are so much grateful for this gesture. It will make a significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of our people and alleviate the poverty that our people are wallowing in due to the devastation,” he said.
While commending NLA for their swift response, being the first institution to come to their aid with a generous donation toward vulnerable victims of the tidal wave, Volta Regional Minister James Gunnu indicated that similar appeals have been made to other institutions but they have not received any response yet.
He therefore seized the opportunity to call on benevolent individuals, institutions and development partners to come to their aid.
Some communities in the Ketu South municipality of Volta Region were ravaged by tidal waves in May 2025, displacing several people and forcing others to sleep outside for fear of buildings submerged in seawater collapsing.
The waves swept homes away and submerged parts of the main road, depositing sand up to 12 centimetres deep.
This precluded access to social amenities like schools, health care facilities among others – devastating the people living in these coastal areas.
According to the Regional Minister, about 1,200 people have been displaced and several have lost their livelihoods and shelter.
These dangerous incidences of tidal waves continue to erode the coastline, Imperilling lives of those who live along the coast.
Attempts to build a sea defence wall to protect these vulnerable communities have stalled.
The donation was made by Director General-National Lottery Authority office Mohammed Abdul-Salam, in Accra, to the Volta Regional Minister and his delegation – which included the assembly members of Agavedzi, Amutinu and Salakope; Volta Regional Director of NADMO; and Municipal Chief Executive Officer of Ketu South.