Commissioned by Citi TV/Citi FM in collaboration with the Ghana Chamber of Mines on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, the health centre’s establishment marks a significant milestone in the region’s healthcare infrastructure.

During the inauguration ceremony, Ablakwa emphasized the pivotal role the newly commissioned centre would play in enhancing primary healthcare delivery in the area.

He noted that previously, the entire Mepe traditional area relied solely on the Battor Catholic Hospital for medical services.

Speaking to Umaru Sanda Amadu of Citi FM/Citi TV, Ablakwa highlighted the centre’s importance in alleviating the strain placed on the Battor Catholic Hospital due to the influx of patients from Mepe and surrounding areas.

“It is very crucial because the entire Mepe traditional area does not have a hospital and so they depend on the Battor Catholic Hospital and there are six traditional areas in North Tongu.

“Everybody on this side of the river, for many decades, have been depending on the Battor Catholic Hospital and everybody has been rushing there and that has put pressure on that facility.

“With this construction, we will now have the pressure easing because for the first time, we are now going to have the people of Mepe having their own hospital and this is phenomenal and that is why we are all excited and primary healthcare here will be taken care of.

In addition to the Medical Centre, four housing units have also been constructed to accommodate medical personnel.

The management of Citi FM/Citi TV has so far unveiled three resettlement centres to aid those affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.

Citi FM/Citi TV launched the Volta Relief Campaign on October 25, 2023, and later upgraded it to ‘OperationRebuild’ to mobilise relief efforts for the displaced victims.

Each resettlement structure, designed in a dormitory-style format, can comfortably house up to 300 individuals and is equipped with essential facilities, including washrooms. Each centre contains 8 dormitories.

These centres, completed through the generous contributions of listeners, viewers and corporate partners, stand as beacons of hope amid adversity for the flood victims of Akosombo.

Tokpo Resettlement Centre

The first centre, located in Tokpo within the Shai Osudoku Municipality, was officially inaugurated on January 17, 2024.

With a capacity to accommodate approximately 280 people, the centre aims to alleviate the strain on local resources by freeing up classrooms previously used as shelters, thus allowing students to resume their studies uninterrupted.

Ada Resettlement Centre

The Ada community in the Greater Accra Region’s Ada East District received the second resettlement centre under the ‘OperationRebuild’ initiative.

Commissioned by traditional leaders and a delegation led by Bernard Avle, General Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV, the centre offers shelter for displaced persons.

Kpando Torkor Resettlement Centre

The 250-capacity Kpando Torkor Resettlement Centre was inaugurated on February 3, 2024 at a cost of GH¢700,000, with significant contributions from Prudential Life Insurance.

The centres, conceived as temporary havens, will transition into fully equipped skills training facilities, providing invaluable opportunities for women and young people in the community.

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The blocks have the capacity to accommodate about 250 people.

The gesture comes in response to the devastations caused by the spillage of the Akosombo dam in September 2023.

This is the third facility management of Citi TV and Citi TV is handing over to persons displaced by the spillage of the Akosombo dam as part of the #CitiRebuild campaign.

These facilities put up through the massive support of listeners and viewers of Citi FM and Citi TV as well as corporate Ghana, are essential to accommodate victims of the spillage.

Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, the General Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV, Bernard Koku Avle, noted that the project at Kpando Torkor was made possible through benevolent donations from listeners and viewers, most importantly from Prudential Life Insurance company.

He said about GH¢700,000 was spent on the project in question.

“The cost of the project was GH¢700,000, and a chunk of that money was donated by Prudential Life Insurance. It is an African brand with a strong presence in Ghana. I want to thank the MP, Hon. Dela Sowah, the Assemblyman and the wonderful team who worked on the ground with our contractors to give these projects a very quick turnaround time. Bi-partisan leadership can bring development within a very short time in a cost-effective manner for the development of local communities. And for that, I want to say thank you very much,” Mr Koku Avle said.

Acting HR, Prudential Life Insurance, Fredrica Squire, expressed appreciation to Citi FM/Citi TV staff and management for the collaboration.

“Over 165 years, we have been providing financial security for families all over the world. One of our purposes as a business is to protect every life and every future. So when we heard of what happened in this area, we couldn’t just look on. We decided to step in. We wanted to reach out and say we can be there for you, we want to contribute something to show our love, and so that is what led to the resettlement centre. We are happy with what we are seeing, Citi FM/Citi TV staff and management, thank you so much. It’s been a great collaboration.”

On her part, the MP for Kpando, Dela Sowah expressed gratitude to listeners, viewers and management of Citi FM and Citi TV, especially Prudential Life Insurance for their contributions towards the resettlement center at Kpando Torkor.

“They have made it very easy for us to live together as a community and for our people to rejoice in a very special way like this. My thanks also go to Citi FM/Citi TV,” she said.

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The second centre is located in Ada, within the Greater Accra Region’s Ada East District. It is specifically designed to house 200 displaced individuals.

The first resettlement centre is situated in Tokpo, Shai-Osudoku District.

This resettlement centre forms a crucial part of the Citi Foundation’s “Rebuild” phase, offering relief support to victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage.

During the brief commissioning ceremony held in Ada on Tuesday, Bernard Avle, General Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV, expressed his gratitude to listeners and viewers whose generosity made the resettlement centre a reality.

Mr. Avle emphasized the centre’s importance in providing temporary housing for those rendered homeless by the flood caused by the Akosombo Dam spillage.

He noted that the decision to build resettlement shelters arose from the understanding that some affected individuals might not be able to rebuild their homes for several months.

“A few days into the campaign, we made the bold decision to build resettlement shelters because reports indicated that some people’s houses were devastated and couldn’t be rebuilt for many months.”

“We also realized that because many of these people will want to own their own houses, they may not wish to stay in a resettlement shelter forever. Based on the deliberations and advice from the DCE and local leaders, we decided on a two-in-one approach. We have built a resettlement centre that can accommodate up to 200 people. However, when the permanent solution is implemented, and they move back to their residences or acquire their own houses, we don’t want the building to become a white elephant. Therefore, the district has agreed with us that the building we are commissioning today will be repurposed to become a fully equipped and furnished skills training centre, providing necessary skills and training for many women and young people in this community,” he noted.

Mr. Avle also commended donors for their generosity, pointing out that contributions from corporate Ghana and listeners and viewers of Citi FM and Citi TV showcased the true Ghanaian spirit.

Nene Tsatsu Pediator V, representing the Ada Traditional Council, echoed Mr. Avle’s sentiments and expressed gratitude to the donors on behalf of the community.

He urged other individuals and organizations to join in supporting the victims.

Nene Pediator V appealed to Citi TV and Citi FM to continue using their network to solicit assistance for the ongoing needs of the affected communities.

The ceremony marked a significant step in providing both immediate relief and long-term empowerment for those affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage in Ada.

“Citi TV and Citi FM, upon hearing about the flood issues, came to the district to personally assess the situation and inform the public through news reports, attracting support from individuals, NGOs, and companies to aid the affected communities.”

“Citi TV and Citi FM initiated the project to provide a shelter for the affected people, and Nene Abraham Kabu Akuaku III, Paramount Chief of Ada, expresses his utmost gratitude to all of you for your contributions. We also take this opportunity to appeal to Citi TV and Citi FM to continue using their network to solicit further assistance for the victims,” Nene Pediator V stated.

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The centre is designed to accommodate approximately 280 people who were displaced due to the Akosombo dam spillage.

It would also free up classrooms which had been used by these persons for students to commence their lessons.

The resettlement centre is one of the five projects being undertaken by Citi TV and Citi FM with massive support from listeners and corporate Ghana, to provide relief to Akosombo flood victims.

During a brief commissioning ceremony on Wednesday, Samuel Attah-Mensah, the Managing Director of Citi TV and Citi FM, said he was surprised to see that parts of Accra had been significantly affected by the Akosombo dam spillage as the general focus, as projected by most people, was on the devastations caused in the Volta Region.

The Citi TV/Citi FM MD explained that the project, specifically the resettlement centre, became a reality because a young man from the area had alerted him to their need for shelter after losing their community.

“When the call came for us to visit here, the only reference on the list of media people, I must say, was Mepe. Everybody thought everything was happening in Mepe [in the Volta Region] until Umaru Sanda Amadu helped us locate this place. It was a bit of a contradiction. The reason is that nobody thought that Greater Accra was part of the mess. Everything was about Volta.”

“Now, when we came here, the idea was to donate food and relief items just to make lives better. So, on our first visit, we got here around 5 pm and began to share food and other relief materials.”

Attah-Mensah said, during the donation exercise, one gentleman approached him and complained about the current sleeping place for the people.

“So for him, if we can do anything for them, we should build shelters for them so that it can be a stop-gap measure until, eventually, they all can go back to their various places. So that recommendation is the reason we are all here today,” he stated.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Shai-Osudoku, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, expressed gratitude to Citi TV and Citi FM for the initiative. She pledged that they would take good care of the facility.

“We are most grateful, and we are going to take good care of the facility. We are so grateful,” she indicated.

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Claudia Boatemaa Adusei, Brand Manager at Margins Group, presenting the cheque to the General Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV, Bernard Avle, said the gesture was to help alleviate the plights of the victims.

She mentioned that considering the enormous work Citi FM and Citi TV were doing to ensure that the flood victims were relieved, the group thought it wise to support the victims through the campaign initiative.

“When we heard of the Akosombo flood victims, we were devastated by the situation, and then we thought, how could we give back to society, how could we help bring people’s lives to what they used to be. So we put our heads together and decided as a company that we are going to donate GH¢100,000 to support the victims.”

“And then we thought it best that Citi FM is already doing this thing, so we wanted to present this to them to support the work they are doing and also to support the people who are also going through this problem,” she stated.

Mr. Avle expressed Citi FM and Citi TV’s gratitude to the Margins Group for the support and urged them to continue their good works.

“This has come at the right time. We are so grateful to the Margins Group. Keep doing the great work that you are doing, and thank you so much for the support,” he said.

Meanwhile, the management of Citi FM and Citi TV has started the construction of a clinic in Mepe, in the North Tongu district of the Volta Region.

The clinic would have all the necessary facilities befitting a clinic to address the health needs of the people in the area.

Mepe, the epicentre of the Volta River Authority (VRA) dam spillage disaster, displaced over 12,000 people in North Tongu and more than 30,000 across eight districts.

After the initial phase of relief efforts, Citi FM/Citi TV management initiated a second phase, constructing shelters in Kpando, Tokpo, Ada, and an entire community in Bakpa.

Addressing the gathering of chiefs and people in Mepe, the Managing Director of Citi FM and Citi TV, Samuel Attah-Mensah, promised that the “project will be built and handed over within two and a half months.”

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for the constituency, commended the management of Citi FM and Citi TV for the intervention, stating, “The Citi Foundation filled the gap when we needed it most. We appreciate their intervention in other districts during the disaster. When I received a call from the Managing Director of Citi to build a clinic, it came as exciting news.”

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Citi FM and Citi TV’s Volta Relief Project, backed by viewers, listeners, and corporate partners, remain steadfast in providing aid to those affected by the Volta River overflow and Akosombo Dam spillage crises.

Displaced residents, now in various temporary shelters due to the flood, have struggled to secure essential supplies.

Some of the beneficiary communities include Mafi Derine, Mafi Dokpo, Battor, Kebegodo, Aklamador, Dove, Atsemkope, Akpokope, Gbadakope, and Ahokope communities.

The donation was made in response to a request from a former member of parliament for Central Tongu, Joe Kwashie Amewugah Gidisu.

Mr. Gidisu, who opened his home to accommodate some of the affected victims since the spillage, has constantly sought help for the affected persons.

Delivering the items, the Programmes Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV, Mr. Richard Mensah, expressed the station’s unwavering commitment to supporting the affected victims during these challenging times.

“On behalf of the management of Citi FM/Citi TV and our listeners, we are here to donate generously to you. We are in it for a long haul, and it’s not over yet for us to support you. For us, it’s a calling.”

Receiving the items on behalf of the victims, the MP assured to distribute the items judiciously.

“We are grateful to Citi FM/Citi TV, I want to assure the donors that their support is in the right place. Items will be distributed judiciously, and we will later give an account of the distribution,” Joe Kwashie Amewugah Gidisu assured.

The relief items, including rice, oil, water, gari, maize, sardines, sugar, second-hand clothes, drinks, and more, were received by Mr. Joe Gidisu and the Chief of Mafi Aklamador, Torgbe Amu V, Kofi Gershon Dzisenu, on behalf of the victims.

They conveyed heartfelt gratitude to the management and Staff of Citi FM/Citi TV, as well as the media house’s cherished listeners and viewers.

Some affected victims, sharing their thoughts with Citi News, appealed for additional support for those still grappling with the aftermath of the spillage.

“We really appreciate the gesture, but we need more support,” they said.

Torgbe Amu V, Kofi Gershon Dzisenu, the Chief of Mafi Aklamador, expressed profound gratitude for the gesture.

Citi FM and Citi TV, through the generosity of their listeners and viewers, have already extended a helping hand to the victims of the overflow of the Volta River and subsequent Akosombo Dam spillage disaster in many affected communities, bringing smiles to the faces of thousands in the affected communities.

The efforts included the donation of assorted relief items such as mattresses, cooking utensils, blankets, rice, beans, maize, sachet water, and mosquito nets, as part of the relief campaign.

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