The Keta Municipal Assembly has announced that the floodgates at Kedzi Azizadzi would be opened on Friday, 3rd July 2026.
The opening is part of coordinated efforts to reduce the severe flooding that has been devastating the Municipality and surrounding communities in recent days.
The announcement, made by the Keta Municipal National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), indicated that the exercise would form part of a broader and carefully coordinated flood management intervention aimed at protecting the lives and property of residents in the affected communities.
Mr Wonder Setsoafia Deynu, the Keta Municipal NADMO Director, said that the exercise would involve creating an opening through the sandbar situated between the lagoon and the sea, which would allow the excess floodwater from the severely overflowing Keta lagoon to drain directly into the sea to significantly reduce the water levels that threatened homes, schools, roads, and farmlands across the municipality.
“The critical flood relief operation will be undertaken by technical experts and engineers drawn from the Volta River Authority (VRA), Amandi Community Service Organisation (CSO), the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and other relevant stakeholder institutions with the requisite expertise to execute the exercise safely and effectively,” he said.
He explained that the entire operation would be coordinated under the direct supervision of the Keta Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Wisdom Seade, who has been at the forefront of flood management efforts in the municipality since the onset of the current devastating floods.
He emphasised that the MCE has indicated that the opening of the floodgates was necessary to protect lives and property in the Keta Municipality and beyond.
Mr Deynu said: “The Keta Municipal Assembly has therefore made a passionate appeal to Chiefs, Elders, Youth, Women, Fishermen, Assembly Members, and the general public to remain calm and avoid any panic or alarm as the technical team moves in to carry out the floodgate opening exercise on Friday.”
The NADMO Director said the Keta Assembly has specifically called on fishermen and residents living in communities immediately adjacent to the lagoon and the sea to exercise extra caution and to cooperate fully with the technical team during the exercise, to maintain the safety of all residents who were with paramount concern guiding the decision to open the floodgates.
Mr Deynu also noted that the opening of the Kedzi Azizadzi floodgates comes after weeks of intense flooding that has submerged homes, collapsed buildings, closed schools, destroyed farmlands and crops, cut off island communities, and forced hundreds of residents across the Keta Municipality and others to flee their homes in search of safety.
He further urged all residents and community stakeholders to support the exercise wholeheartedly.
He also assured the public that the decision to open the floodgates was taken after thorough technical assessment and expert consultation, and that all necessary precautions were being put in place to ensure the operation is carried out safely and successfully for the benefit of all affected communities.
