President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to solve Tamale’s long-running water crisis through a self-funded €277 million water supply project, after a European Union loan earmarked for the same purpose was withdrawn following Ghana’s debt default.
The President made the announcement on Saturday during the sod-cutting ceremony for the 24-hour economy market at Kukuo in the Tamale Metropolis, drawing on his own childhood memories of the city’s water struggles to underline the personal significance of the commitment.
“I know the Tamale water problem has been a very persistent one. I remember when we were in Ghana school, we used to go to Vitim Dam to go and fetch water to wash our clothes and to bath,” he said.
President Mahama explained that Parliament had already approved a €277 million facility for the Tamale and Damangu water systems, but the loan was pulled back by the EU after Ghana’s previous governments defaulted on debt payments and the country declared it could not service its obligations. With no clear timeline for the facility to be restored through external financing, the President said he had directed the Finance Minister to find the funds domestically.
“I am a citizen of Tamale. If I don’t solve this water issue, nobody will come and do it,” he said.
The new system, when completed, is projected to deliver 30 million gallons of water daily to Tamale , a supply that the President said would transform water access in the city.
As an immediate stopgap while the larger project gets underway, President Mahama said he had directed that old and weakened pumps at Dalong be replaced with new ones to improve the current water supply in the short term.
In addition, work would begin to extend a pipeline from Yape all the way to Tamale South to add 30 million new gallons to the city’s supply.
“Very soon you will notice an improvement in the water supply because we are going to put new pumps to replace the old pumps,” he said.
The President promised to return to Tamale to cut the sod for the full water project together with the chiefs and people of the city once work is ready to begin.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
