A 50-year-old farmer has drowned at Yama, a farming community in the West Mamprusi municipality in the North East Region.
The incident occurred on Monday, August 25, 2025, while the deceased, identified as Baba Takwara, was working with 10 other men to salvage his crops cultivated along the White Volta in anticipation of flooding from the spillage of the Bagre Dam.
The deceased reportedly left his friends to fetch water from the White Volta with a gallon, but failed to return.
His friends later found the gallon floating on the river, leading to a frantic search for him. His body was subsequently retrieved.
The body had since been buried in accordance with Islamic tradition.
Confirmation
The North East Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Alhaji Tahiru Rafiu, who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic, said that the deceased was believed to have slipped into the river and was unable to swim to the banks.
He said contrary to earlier reports, the farm itself was not flooded at the time of the incident.
Rather, he said, the deceased was harvesting his crops in anticipation of flooding from the Bagre Dam spillage.
Alhaji Rafiu cautioned farmers in the area against working too close to the river during this period. He also urged residents in lowland communities to take precautionary measures.
Spillage
On Monday, August 25, SONABEL, Burkina Faso’s national electricity company, began spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam.
The move follows the rapid rise in water levels at the Bagre and Kompienga dams.
As of Saturday, August 23, 2025, the Bagre Dam recorded an elevation of 234.27 metres with a filling rate of 90.24 per cent, just 0.73 metres below its maximum retention level.
Similarly, the Kompienga Dam stood at 177.90 metres with a filling rate of 79.36 per cent, with only 2.10 metres to reach its normal retention capacity.
This implies that both reservoirs were nearing their maximum levels, prompting the controlled release of excess water.
The spillage is part of a controlled operation aimed at preventing any potential damage to the dams’ infrastructure,
Meanwhile, residents in communities downstream of the White and Black Volta have been advised to stay alert and prepare for potential flooding.
Rising water levels
Checks by the Daily Graphic indicate that water levels in the Black and White Volta have begun to rise, signalling the likelihood of flooding in lowland communities.
Farmers, in particular, fear for their crops as many are yet to harvest.
In some communities, cereals are still tussling while others are nearing maturity, raising fears of poor harvest prospects should the floods set in.
Within the White and Black Volta enclave, residents appeared to be bracing themselves for the annual ritual of flooding even as NADMO intensified measures to save lives and properties.
The spillage, which began in 1999, eight years after the construction of the multi-purpose hydro dam on the White Volta, has become an annual ritual with communities along the White and Black Volta in the Northern, North East, Upper East, and Savannah regions at the receiving end.
For the past years, many lives have been lost while large tracts of farmland and properties, running into millions of Ghana cedis, have been destroyed by the floods.
Writer's email: Mohammed.fugu@ graphic.com.gh
