Voltascapes the Role of the Architect and Planner, by Immanuel Sirron-Kakpor,

VOLTASCAPES Volta Resettlements Scheme – Ghana The Role of the Architect and Planner

Student: Tutor:

Immanuel Kwaku Sirron-Kakpor Arjen Oosterman Amsterdam Academy of Architecture | December 2010

Upper East Upper West

PRIME MERIDIAN

Northern

TROPIC OF CANCER Brong-Ahafo

Ashan Eastern Western Central

Volta

Greater Accra

GHANA REGIONS EQUATOR

BURKINA FASO

Gambaga escarpments

TOGO

Volta baisin

IVORY COAST Kwahu plateau

Bosumtwi lake

Coastal plains

Mount Afadjato Lake Volta Akwapem mountains

GOLD COAST

MAIN TRIBES Grusi

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Mole Dagbane Gurma

3% 15% 4%

Mande Busanga Ewe Ga Adangbe

1% 12% 7%

Guan

4%

mix

9%

Akan en Fan

45%

Voltaian basin

GHANA ELEVATIONS

GHANA GEOLOGY

1000 mtr.

Voltaian basin, mainly sandstones

500 mtr.

Birmian volcanic belts

200 mtr.

Tarkwaian sandstones and conglomerates

100 mtr.

Pan-Africa thrusts units

0 mtr.

Belt-type granitoid rocks Birimian sedimentary basins Basin-type granitoid rocks

TOTAL AREA OF GHANA

LANDSCAPES OF GHANA

USE OF LAND

Total area Africa 30.221.532 km2 Total area Ghana 239.460 km2 0.8 %

Savannah 48 %

Arable land 16,3 %

Total area Ghana 239.460 km2 Total water area 8.520 km2 3.5 %

Transi on region 20 %

Permanent crops 9,7 %

Total area Ghana 239.460 km2 Total land area 230.020 km2 96.1 %

Coast area 7 %

Permanent pastures 26 %

65 % of the land area is lower than 150 mtr.

Rainforest 25 %

95 % of the land ares is lower than 300 mtr.

Forests and woodlands 24 %

Other 24 %

Land boundaries 2.093 km Cost line 539 km 25.8 %

SOURCE: - Library of Texas at Aus n available at: h p://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ [accessed 3 March 2010] - The United Na ons Environment Programme informa on office available at: h p://www.grida.no [accessed 4 March 2010] - Mining Portal of Ghana available at: h p://www.ghana-mining.org [accessed 4 March 2010] MAIN TRIBES OF GHANA, SOURCE: based on GHANA, Moerkamp, J. 1997

- Center for the Study of Intelligence available at: h ps://www.cia.gov/library/ [accessed 7 March 2010] - Ghana Studio - Gradua on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del h p://www.studioghana.com

TAMALE 52

51 43 50 48 47

42 41

45

49

44

40

39

46

37 38 36

35

30 29 27

28

26 25

34

32 31

KUMASI

1

2

3 5

4

15 14 13

6

12 11 9

KOFORIDUA

24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16

HO

10

Akosombo Dam

8 6

ACCRA

Ethnic and Administrative Area A1. KWAHU

B1. EWE GUANG

B4. KRACHI

A2. SOUTH AFRAM

B2. BUEM AKAN

D. GONJA

A3. AKWAMU

B3. PAI

C: BRONG AHAFO

TAMALE

TAMALE 52

D. GONJA

51 43 50 48

44

47

B4. KRACHI

42 41

45

49

40

39

46

C: BRONG AHAFO

37 38 36

35

B3. PAI

30 29 27

25

34

24 23

A1. KWAHU 32

B1. EWE GUANG KUMASI

31

KUMASI

HO A2. SOUTH AFRAM

1

2

3 5

A3. AKWAMU

4

12 11 9

KOFORIDUA

ACCRA

22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

6

Akosombo Dam KOFORIDUA

HO

10

Akosombo Dam

8 6

ACCRA

Lake Volta at present

Rivers before the Dam

1. Amate 2. Mpam 3. Dedeso Wireko 4. Dominase 5. Onuku 6. Anyaboni 7. Adukrom 8. Somanya 9. Senchi 10. Apeguso 11. Mpakadan 12. New Ajena 13. Nkwakubew

28

26

B2. BUEM AKAN

14. Tonkor-Kaira 15. Todome 16. Tsohor 17. Botoku 18. Wusuta 19. Vakpo 20. Sabadu 21. Danyigba 22. Fesi 23.Tepo 24. Wurupong 25. Bowri Odumasi 26. Tapa Abotoase

Rivers before the Dam

27. Katanka 28. Asukawkaw 29. Adonkwanta 30. Tokroano 31. Forifori 32. Mem Chemfe 33. Amankwakrom 34. Ntoaboma 35. Kajaji 36. Kete Krachi 37. New Ntewusa 38. Osramani 39. Ohiamankyene

Lake Volta at present

source: Robert Chambers . The Volta Resettlement Experience redraw by Sirron-Kakpor

40. Dambai 41. Kitara 42. Bladjae 43. Kpandae 44. Grube 45. Gulubi 46. Prang 47. Labum 48. Buma 49. Yeji 50. Makongo 51. Bawu 52. Yapei

52 Resettlements Sites

Bolgatanga

Wa

Tamale

Sunyani

Kumasi

boankra Ho Koforidua

Accra

Cape Coast Sekondi

WATER CONNECTIONS

HARBORS IN GHANA, SOURCE: based on www.ghanaports.gov.gh Ghana Studio - Gradua�on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del� h�p://www.studioghana.com

Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Paga 



Yendi



Sheini Bole

Wenchi Techiman

Nkoranza



inland Côte d’Ivoire

Mampong Ejisu Konongo



Lagos (Nigeria)

Nkawkaw 

 

 



 

 





 

Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

 

ROAD CONNECTIONS HIERARCHY OF ROADS

RAILWAY CONNECTIONS RAIL USAGE

Interna�onal road Main na�onal road Other main roads Secondary roads Regional capital

Proposed trail

District capital Forest reserve CONGESTION IN GHANA, SOURCE: www.ghana-pedia.org Ghana Studio - Gradua�on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del� h�p://www.studioghana.com

EXISTING AND PROPOSED RAIL NETWORK IN GHANA, SOURCE: based on www.ghana-net.com Ghana Studio - Gradua�on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del� h�p://www.studioghana.com

Landscape

Savannah

Transi on area

Landscape l a nd use SOURCE: Moerkamp, J. (1997). Ghana, landenreeks. Amsterdam: KIT Ghana Studio - Gradua on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del h p://www.studioghana.com

Rainforest

Coast savannah

climate border cocoa

Bx

climate border cocoa

Bx

Bx

Au

Bx Au D

Bx

D

Au

O

D Au Mn

O

O

Crop type

Minerals

Coconut

Palm oil

Banana

Cocoa

Rice

Bx

Bauxite

Au

Gold

Mn

Manganese

D

Diamond O

C

Ta

C C

C C Ta Ta

Co

Ta

Ta

Ju

Co

Ci

Ci

Co Co

Ci Ci

Ta

Ta

Ru

Ci

Natural Resources Co

Coffee

Ta

Tobacco

Ju

Jute

Ru

Rubber

C

Ci Citrus

Fish

Ca les

Oil

C

Ta

C C

C

Tamale

C

Ta Ta

1 rainy season

CLIMATE BORDER CACAO

Co

Ta

Ta

Ju

Co

Hot & humid 2 rainy seasons

Ci Bx Kumasi Bx Au

Bx

CLIMATE BORDER CACAO

Bx Au

Co

Co D

Au D Au Mn O

Ci

Ci O

D Ci

Bx

Accra

Ta

Ci Ta

O

Ru

2 rainy seasons

Climate zones in Ghana

Landscape, land u s e and weather cir cumstances

°C

mm

40

350

30

300

20

250

10

200

0

150

27,9 degrees Celsius 4,5hrs August 9,4hrs Nov. 1090 mm rainfall

100

-10

50

-20 Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Okt

Nov

46,8% humidity

Dec

Climate graph of Tamale

°C

mm

40

350

30

300

20

250

10

200

0

150

25,6 degrees Celsius 2,3hrs August 6,8hrs April 1484 mm rainfall

100

-10

50

-20 Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Okt

Nov

83,2% humidity

Dec

Climate graph of Kumasi

°C

mm

40

350

30

300

20

250

10

200

0

150 100

-10

50

-20 Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Okt

Climate graph of Accra

- h�p://www.climatetemp.info/Ghana/ & KNMI) - Ghana Studio - Gradua�on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del� h�p://www.studioghana.com

Nov

Dec

26,5 degrees Celsius 4,6hrs July 8,0hrs Nov. 787 mm rainfall 81,0% humidity

WURU

FeBOLGATANGA BONGO-DA

L L

DABOYA

TAMALE SANGBA BUIPE

Fe

L

SUNYANI

Bx

CHICHIWERE

Bx

Bx

KUMASI OTERKPOLU

Bx AWASO

KIBI

Bx

HO

L

C/A ASIKUMA

Bx C/AAKUSE

KOFORIDUA

Fe

OPPONMANSI

O

L

ACCRA NAULI CAPE COAST

O

HALF ASSINI

O

O

SEKONDI TAKORADI

Major deposits of minerals suitrable for the production of construction materials L

LIMESTONE BAUXITE

Fe

IRON ORES

O

OIL AND BITUMEN

C/A

CHROMITE AND ASBESTOS

WURU BOLGATANGA

BONGO-DA B

DABOYA

TAMALE SANGBA BUIPE

SUNYANI

CHICHIWERE KUMASI OTERKPOLU AWASO

HO

KIBI

ASIKUMA KOFORIDUA

SE AKUSE

OPPONMANSI

ACCRA NAULI CAPE COAST HALF ASSINI

SEKONDI TAKORADI

Tr aditional building methods and materialization GREAT SOIL GROUPS GROUNDWATER LATERITE-(OCHROSOL INTERGRADES)

REGOSOLIC GROUNDWATER LATERITES

SAVANNAH OCHROSOLS

TROPICAL CLAYS

FOREST OCHROSOLS

SODIUM VLEISOLS

FOREST OXYSOLS

ACID VLEISOLS

FOREST OCHROSOL-OXYSOL INTERGRADES

COASTAL AND ALLUVIAL SANDS

FOREST LITHOSOLS

MAJOR LATERITE ROCKS AND GRAVEL DEPOSITES

SOURCE: - Schreckenbach H. (1982). Construc�on technology for a tropical developing country , Eschborn: GTZ

Ghana Studio - Gradua on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del h p://www.studioghana.com

Home Al-Hadji

Home Chief

New Mosque Old Mosque

PUBLIC FUNCTION

PRIVATE PLOTS

CLUSTER OF BUILDINGS IN LARABANGA,

SPACE FOR PUBLIC USE

Storage

Cooking

Storage

Storage

Cooking Cooking

Bathing

Al-Hadji

Trade

COMMUNAL FUNCTION

PUBLIC FUNCTION

PRIVATE FUNCTION

LARABANGA (COMPOUND SCALE) CLUSTER OF BUILDINGS IN LARABANGA, OURCE: Wolters, A. (1982), Bouwvormen in Ghana. TU Eindhoven Ghana Studio - Gradua on Project 2010 -2011 . TU Del h p://www.studioghana.com

Time line

1915 – 1925:

1939 – 1949:

Abert Ernest Kitson First proposed a dam and power house to be building at Akosombo.

1951 – 1955:

Sir William Halcrow and Partners with Preparatory Commission Recommendation for a dam and a power house at Ajena. While a smelter build at Kpone and a sea port at Tema.

Early 1956:

The Volta River Basin. Report of Preparatory Commission published

1959

Kaiser Engineers Reassessment proposal and subsequent construction of dam and power house at Akosombo. Smelter and Sea port build at Tema

Duncan Rosa and John Birds A new location was proposed at Ajena for the Dam with a power house with a smelter, also a sea port at Ada

1962 January:

Building of the Dam official commission

May:

Commission Working Party To tackle resettlement problem

June:

A New Volta Basin Plan

By Division of Town and Country Planning, assistance United Nations Regional Planning Mission

July- October: Major social survey by G.W. Amarteifio, and

D.A.P Butcher a sociologist August:

North-East Section Plan was completed by B.T. Fewings

November:

December:

1963

East Volta Plan completed by Kenneth Snaggs

January:

The Afram Area Plan completed by Laszlo Huszar,

December:

1,106 of the 15,000 families evacuated to six settlements

1964

Start clearing of location start by communal labour and later workers Brigade. Clearing leapt forward in 1963, 3412 houses ware built in ten settlements Review of Social Survey continues the whole year.

December

11,119 houses had been completed in 44 settlements 175 miles of roads had been built. 300 houses a week 10,174 families had been evacuated to 44 settlements

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

23

Introduction

25

1. Volta River Scheme

26

2. Traditional Settlement

2.2. Village Settlement Pattern

2.3. Building Typology

3. Volta Resettlement Project

3.2. Resettlements before Volta Resettlement

3.3. Organization and Planning

3.4. Regional Planning

3.5. Housing

3.6. Agriculture

28

4. The Role of the Architects and Planner

50

5. Conclusion & Recommendations

52

Bibliography

30

Acknowledgments

This paper on the role of architects and planners in the Volta Resettlement scheme written as a dissertation for a masters degree at the Academy of Architecture Amsterdam is part of an ongoing Ghanascapes Project. I am very fortunate and am grateful to be at the Academy and to have been assisted by Arjen Osterman and John Lonsdale.

Thanks go to all the members of the Ghanascapes Team for their encouragement and assistance.

Many people were helpful to me in gathering data for this paper. To mention just a few, I thank all the chiefs, elders and the people in the townships that welcomed me with open arms and for their hospitality.

I wish to acknowledge with grateful thanks the Officers of VRA for making available to me materials in their archive.

Finally I wish to say thanks to Antoni Folkers for leading me into the subject of the Resettlement Scheme. Like many before me, I had never heard of the Volta Resettlement Sceme before then.

Introduction

The story of the Volta River Project will not be complete without reference to the 80,000 people who had to be moved from their villages, and resettled in other areas, because of the formation of the Volta Lake. The story of this resettlement scheme is an epic in itself. Inauguration speech by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah .January 22 1966.

The Volta River Authority on the 01 November 2010 for first time in 20 years have spill the water of the dam, because it has exceeded its maximum capacity and become necessary as to open the floodgates. The flood this year has affected a number of communities along the bank of the Volta lake, thousands people have been affected more than 350 houses and 313 acres of farms was destroyed according The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO). Those are recent news about the Volta River project.

This paper examined the role of architects/planners in the epic of the resettlements which intentions are to impose modernity through architecture and agriculture in the Volta Basin. The Volta Resettlement haven’t achieved the concept of modernity or these it replace traditional settlement patterns and house designs but rather a ruined villages and communities life. Despite the fact that the intentions of modernization were not achieved, and rather poorly executed they were, nevertheless, of good intentions.

1

Volta River scHEME

In 1915 Albert Ernest Kitson, a British geologist who wasin Gold Coast between 1913-30 was the first to recommend building a dam at Ajona near Akosombo to generate a hydro-electric power after discovering bauxite in Kwahu to be used in aluminium production. His main mission in the Gold Coast was to discover mineral deposits which was exploited by the British Colonial masters, he is was very successfully in discovering a lot of minerals but he was also concern about development local infrastructure.

Before the Gold Coast, became the first African State to achieve independence in 1957 a lot of consultants submitted reports in favour of building the dam, the most important was the British Aluminium Ltd which has commercial interest in the scheme. But proposal wouldn’t be materialize because of political uncertainty.

The idea of the dam was only put into effect when Ghana the president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, decided to generate hydropower as a means of modernizing the economy and the Ghanaians. It was not until 1963 that the Akosombo Dam construction was commenced under Italian management team Impregilo Contractor. The creation of the Dam lead to the world’s largest man made lake at the time resulted in 8.502 square kilometres.

26

27

2

Traditional settlement in Ghana

The survival of a small township or a village depends on the company of other surrounding settlements. This survival extends beyond safety and self preservation to sharing problems, giving advice to each other, and exchanging ideas and information.

2.2. Settlement pattern Settlements in Ghana take place mostly along communication routes, where dwellings on both sides benefit through their access to passing trade, communication and so on. Some villages however are not constrained by this artificial landscape feature. A typical village in Ghana is of linear settlement which has a main street of about 30 metres wide or more, the house of the chief and queen mother house are place at a special location serving as orientation points. Also along the main street is situated a fetish house, near the village square or the shrine where the priest dances to summon the ancestors to the beat of ‘talking’ drums. This space serves also for all public activities.

2.3. Building typology Circular or rectangular mud houses with thatched roofs have been a common housing typology for centuries in Ghana. These would seem to be spontaneous but many of them display a remarkable aesthetic sense of form and betray in their structure, form and adornment hidden rituals. In traditional Ewe village the compound house form is very common. The compound space/semi public space is where all family activities take place and visitors are received. The space outside the compound spaces or in-between other family houses is the negotiated space, where community life manifests itself. In this case compound housing are not encircled with walls but the houses are arranged to form a closed block, while small spaces are left open for circulation. See diagram 000 The construction is mostly carried out by the men, while the women and children obtain water for mixing the mud and responsible for the final plastering. A mixture of mud and chopped straw are the materials used and are left over for several days to cure and later pressed into the wall. The wall structure may require support using wood which is often bamboo.

28

29

3

Volta Resettlement Project

The project was once called the Golden Triangle Project, which aimed to industrialize the country through the exploitation of its natural resources, minerals, water power and to modernize the inhabitants. Up-to-date this is still the largest resettlement project in Ghana. It took place between 1962 and 1964.

The resettlement programme involved the rehabilitation of 80.000 villagers in over 736 villages whose farms and homes were inundated by the formation of the lake.

Those displaced come from seven main ethic groups – Ewe, Akeamu, Krobo, Kwahu, Krachi and Gonja but also there are several smaller groups. Most of them live in traditional homes but others like the Tongu Ewe fishing communities and yam farming Konkombas live in the areas of the other ethic groups. Like other rural Ghanaians they live in closely knit units of the extend family and around their traditional rulers. The ethic diversity, the size of area of the project with fewer roads and communication has created a lot of problems.

At the end of the project a total of over 12.800 households comprising nearly 70.000 individuals have been resettled in 52 townships. Another 1,800 household have opted for cash compensation and have resettled themselves.

3.2. Resettlements before the Volta Resettlement Before the Volta Resettlement Scheme, two resettlement projects were undertaken, namely the Frafra resettlement in the Northern Region and the Tema Manhean Resettlement.

The first such project was in 1956, just before independence, in which about 149 family members of Frafra tribe in the Northern Region were resettled at Damongo in Gonja. This was because of the overpopulation of their old homes.

The programme provided a lot of generous provisions, houses, and bullocks [bullocks as in young male cows?] but they have found it very difficult to accept the new location and to abandon the traditional home.

For many years they sent their herds back to graze around the old settlements while new resettlement area round Damongo were more fertile land, as well as sending back their dead to be buried in their traditional homeland. Due to the small size and being of a single ethnic group, the project was managed and executed with less problems by the Department of Social Welfare.

The second, Tema Manhean Resettlement project was carried out in 1959, with a population of 12000 people and 600 households. The small villages along the

30

TAMALE 52

51 43 50 48 47

42 41

45

49

44

40

39

46

37 38 36

35

30 29 27

28

26 25

34

32 31

KUMASI

1

2

3 5

4

15 14 13

6

12 11 9

KOFORIDUA

24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16

HO

10

Akosombo Dam

8 6

ACCRA

Resettlements Sites

1. Amate 2. Mpam 3. Dedeso Wireko 4. Dominase 5. Onuku 6. Anyaboni 7. Adukrom 8. Somanya 9. Senchi 10. Apeguso 11. Mpakadan 12. New Ajena 13. Nkwakubew

14. Tonkor-Kaira 15. Todome 16. Tsohor 17. Botoku 18. Wusuta 19. Vakpo 20. Sabadu 21. Danyigba 22. Fesi 23.Tepo 24. Wurupong 25. Bowri Odumasi 26. Tapa Abotoase

Rivers before the Dam

27. Katanka 28. Asukawkaw 29. Adonkwanta 30. Tokroano 31. Forifori 32. Mem Chemfe 33. Amankwakrom 34. Ntoaboma 35. Kajaji 36. Kete Krachi 37. New Ntewusa 38. Osramani 39. Ohiamankyene

Lake Volta at present

40. Dambai 41. Kitara 42. Bladjae 43. Kpandae 44. Grube 45. Gulubi 46. Prang 47. Labum 48. Buma 49. Yeji 50. Makongo 51. Bawu 52. Yapei

52 Resettlements Sites

source: Robert Chambers . The Volta Resettlement Experience redraw by Sirron-Kakpor

31

coast were moved three miles inland on a good road which had been made because of the construction of the Tema Harbor seaport. This group is also ethnically and linguistically homogeneous.

The replacement of housing was organized around a room for room basis with sufficient community assistants employed to work on a household basis, providing them with adequate information and assistance.

There was an intensive education programme established in the resettlement project area and it benefited further from the port construction. These helped in fewer problems being encountered during the execution of the resettlement project.

3.3. Organization and Planning The Volta Resettlement Project activities did not start until May 1962 after the official launch of the Dam project took place in January 1962. The Preparatory Commissions report was finished in 1956.

While the project was underway a The Volta Basin Plan was prepared and this came under the responsibility of the Division of Town and Country Planning, with the assistance of the United Nations Regional Planning Mission. The document contains physical information on the basin, economical potentials and recommendations for area to be considers for resettlements. This contained also a frame work that proposed four-tiers of settlements namely the Central Town of a population of between 8000 – 10,000, the Service Centre Village of a population of between 5,000 – 8,000, and the Satellite Village – of a population of less than 5000 with Farmhouses and Homesteads clustered in small traditional villages.

When it became apparent that no progress had been made on the resettlement programme, a Resettlement Officer was then appointmented, to set up a Working Party to coordinate the programme. The Working Party consisted of the Social Works, Physical and Regional Planners/Architects from Kwame Nkrumah University of Sciences and Technology (KNUST) and the Ministry of Works.

The other members consisted of soil scientists, agricultural officers, surveyors, engineers and lawyers.

The Working Party (WP) carried out executive responsibility in their own fields of the programme. They were given blank cheques to incur expenditure in their department on the programme that was approved by the Volta River Authority.

The Resettlement office then became an exchange point in to which requirements for actions and information were fed and than passed on to others.

32

With this approach the office staff familiarized themselves with all the facts and activities of the programme. By so doing they could argue successfully before higher authorities in support or against a particular line of action. This approach had a basic weakness making the working party programme lacking in unity of purpose and cohesion. The Working Party meeting was held weekly and minutes were then circulated to ministries and among the interested agencies.

The Working Party adopted three principal guide lines: i) The resettlement should be used as an opportunity to enhance the social, economical and physical condition of the people. ii) The agriculture system should be improved to enable them to effect the transition from subsistence to cash economy. iii) Settlements should be planned and located in a rational manner so that, not only the flood victim benefited from the social and physical infrastructure but also others in the Volta Basin.

The first considering of the Working Party was on housing, which according to the Preparatory Commission recommendations of 1956, the people should build their own houses and that compensation be paid for their old house. Also, that staff should assist the people and advise the settlers on construction. A layout design, plan for house and block making machines should also be provided.

The Working Party then proposed a housing system that should provide direct labour for the people. A standard minimum level of housing was than agreed upon for all the people. The so called ‘core’ or ‘nuclear’ house with concrete floor and aluminium roof with two rooms, a cooking porch and sitting porch but with wall completed for only one room. The other walls would then be completed by the dweller through aided self-help after settlement. Permanent villages, well sited, properly laid out with certain basic amenities should be provided.

After the basic policies on housing and farming had been agreed the following execution phase of the resettlement programme was carried out: i. ii. iii. iv. v.

Survey and Field studies Planning and programming Development of Houses and Farming Evacuation Rehabilitation

But in practice, the first three activities were going on simultaneously most of the time, because of pressure to build and of having the farming land ready for evacuees to arrive at the new townships. This created a dynamic situation of constant change and flux which appeared chaotic. The planners and architects were having the frustration of running between engineers and field surveys in the bush for information.

33

3.4. Regional Planning In the midst of chaos and frustration the planners/architects came up with three planning zones: The North-East, The East and The Afram Area. See map 000 The North-East Section Plan: Completed by B.T. Fewings in August 1962, of Department of Planning of University of Science and Technology Kumasi. The main feature of his plan was the strong limitation upon the location of new townships – Kete Krachi was move only few hundred meters uphill from the old site and was to become a port of entrance at southern peninsula. This plan tried to re-establish some of the Kete Krachi’s, linking it with this hinterland, on which it must depend economical.

The East Volta Plan: Completed in November 1962 by Kenneth Snaggs - of the Town and Country Planning Division of the Ghana government. He made use of the existence of a north-south road in its full length – from Abotoase in the north to the Adomi Bridge over the Volta below the dam and the existence of the old centre along it.

The challenge here was to fit the new townships into an existing hierarchy to make use of both new and used service centres. This was achieved by a greater concentration of the new settlements within the area of influences of existing major centres, by locating the new settlements in the proximity of old centres.

The Afram Area: Completed in 1963 by Laszlo Huszar, architect, urban and regional development. The plan had to erect for the first time in the area, an all new system of communication and a virtually new pattern of service centres in the area.

His plan proposed a new truck road marking the narrow area of the lake accessible from the traditional centre. Services in the settlements was set back from the main road at least a few hundred meters with the assumption that it would cater for the local settlers only.

In general all the planned areas were in total opposition to traditional Ghanaian settlements which spring up spontaneously at the point of traffic junctions. So by planning a settlement not on the main road you are then effectively depriving communities a livelihood even though this was clearly not the intention.

According to Laszlo Huszar, the planners who prepared two of the three plans were completely unaware of the existence of the draft report or blueprint for the settlements pattern of the whole basin - The Volta Basin Plan - made by the Division of Town and Country Planning.

The plot size for the house was a standardized 30x30 meter which made room for the possibility of the house expanding into a full compound house of eight rooms. The planners were much concerned about the depressing monotony

34

of the appearance of the settlements by which they tried all kinds of artificial patterns.

The Dedeso Wireko Plan Dedeso Wireko is the biggest resettlement township, designed to accommodate an initial population of 5,500 living in 816 houses. The main problem of location had been to find adequate agricultural land for the needs of a mainly farming community of this size.

The town is situated on very attractive terrain, on a new trunk road. The high-density central core of the settlement surrounds the main commercial centre, and is flanked by civic buildings, such as the town hall, post office, police station, health centre and community centre with playing fields. Behind this central core lie the wards of the farming communities, separated from each other by two valleys. The farmlands are in easy access from each of these communities, which can develop their own commercial sub-centres as indicated in the plan.

Two of the three proposed school sites have already been built. Each of them is located in a relatively quiet neighbourhood and has possibilities of expansion. Each is nodal to the sector of the town it serves. The sites of churches were allocated in consultation with church leaders and the chief, on the basis of the distribution of the various religious communities within the settlement. On the western extremity there is an agricultural station with a proposed poultry section, while east of the township an area had been reserved for possible future industrial use. There is room for residential expansion between the agricultural station and the western valley, and on the undeveloped plots within the built-up area. The plan did not intend to fix future land uses, only to serve the purpose of immediate development. Undeveloped areas can easily be turned to new uses to meet new requirements as and when they arise. Laszlo Huszar, Volta Resettlement Experience.1970. page 155

The Dedeso Wireko Plan

35

3.5. Housing The limitations of time and cost led to two decisions about the design of the houses. The first phase is a basis ‘nucleus’ or ‘core’ and is built by direct labour under the control of the VRA. The second phase is when a basis core would be extended by a self-help programme, with some assistance from the Volta River Authority in the shaping of building materials and technical advice from the Department of Social Welfare.

The already completed social survey indicated that the families would range from five to twelve per household. Some families were as large as 25 persons per household. This meant that house design should have a flexible plan and be capable of expanding to 10 rooms. Three basis types of design were adopted for the whole resettlement township: P, R and D which allows a lot of flexibility and extensions to the compound housing topology.

It was than decided at an early stage to adopt prefabricated elements and standardized components for speed and economic reasons. Various prototype houses including an aluminium-clad house, a house based on timber prefabricated units, and a house constructed entirely of precast concrete components were designed and erected at Nkwakubew. But both aluminium and precast concrete houses were found to be very expensive. And with timber houses it was felt that there would be a termite problem, and additional costs of angle iron fixings and unskilled labours. It was finally decided to use a combination of masonry construction with prefabricated standard components.

House types The P and R type houses ware designed by F.H. Marker ARIBA under the Ministry of Communications and Works. He also designed the market and school buildings.

The type P houses in the first phase has one completed core space of 14 m2 with an aluminium sheet roof and concrete floor in place for a subsequent second room of 12 m2, a cooking area also 12 m2 and a porch. The roof is supported on precast concrete columns with a low pitch and has a ridge along the centre line of the building. This would only be extended through addition of more roofing components to a maximum of four rooms.

The type R has all the features of type P but the roof construction was a simple rectangle in plan and has no ridge, the roof being almost flat with a slight curve.

This type can be developed further on a plot of 30 x 25 m2 to give six rooms plus a kitchen and space for a bathroom and toilets, the transformation being arranged along the three sides of the plot forming an in courtyard.

Type D houses were designed by Miles Danby, a Lecturer at University of Science

36

and Technology-Kumasi. The D type was first developed for a low-cost housing project for junior staff at Opoku Ware Secondary School, Kumasi. It was base on idea that very house has it own private compound with access to a larger compound enclosed by four blocks of houses. The in-between space would than be use gardening, keeping livestock or recreation. This type was mostly used by the planner in the design to provide high density. “What have we achieved so far? It may be premature to talk of new settlements and as model town. We have created problems of sanitations and overcrowdings that did not exist in before in the small communities the settler comes from� Laszlo Huszar. Volta Resettlement Experience.1970.page 162

37

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

38

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

39

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

40

Present situation of P - type at Apeguso

41

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

42

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

43

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

44

Present situation of R - type at Danyigba

45

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

46

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

47

3.6. Agriculture Form the start the policy was to improve farming by giving each settler enough prepared land to sustain a satisfactory level of living. Initially, it was decided that each subsistence farmer should have a minimum of twelve acres under mechanized farming. Tree crop farmers were to have a minimum of five and a maximum of fifteen acres. Intensive livestock farmers were to have a minimum of three acres each, and pastoralists were to have a minimum of thirty acres.

These initial target figures of allocation of land have been reduced by half during implementation, but even so, less than a third of the reduced acreage couldn’t be cleared before the arrival of the settlers.

When Nkrumah’s government was overthrown in 1966 in a military coup led by led by Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka and the National Liberation Council (NLC).

The government of NLC was not in favour of large-scale, state-run farms based on mass organization of farmers. The NLC was more interested in small-scale, peasant agriculture. Thus, the policy of mechanized agriculture was replaced by the provision of subsistence plots for the settler families. Responsibility for the agricultural program was handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture.

While the Busia government of the Progress Party (PP) after the NLC government was committed to rural development, this was seen as a strategy designed to improve the socioeconomic life of a specific group of people, namely the rural poor. The approach to rural development pursued by Busia did not assign any special role to resettlement and nothing substantial was achieved under Busia’s government before his overthrow in 1972.

The changes in government and development strategies by various governments in part years towards resettlement affected the development of the resettlement towns. These create an atmosphere of uncertainty both for the resettles and for those who are in charged with managing the affairs of the resettlement program.

48

Tobacco farming as a part of the agricultual programme

49

4

The role of expats Planner and Architects

The early years of independence of Ghana were a period when the government increasingly projected an image of prosperity, stability of new born county. This was done through imposed modernity and grandiose architectural projects.

Also as part of this construction of a modern Ghanaian identity, an attempt was make to replace technicians and planners bound to the country’s colonial and transitional phases – such as Maxwell Fry and Jane Draw. Their works were deemed too ‘traditional’ to represent modern Ghana. The government then turned to “non-aligned nations’’, to East Block expat architects and planners. Doxiadis Associates – international development consultants based in Athens was summoned at a crucial moment to propagate Kwame Nkrumah as an ideal of modernity. Since 1959 Doxiadis Associates has produced a series of preliminary reports on Ghana, such as the Accra- Tema metropolitan and Accra – Tema – Akosombo Regional plans.

Only two Ghanaians have been involved at the high position in planning of the resettlement scheme: Mr. E.A.Kobla Kalitsi, an economist, he was in change of the whole resettlements operation, later he became Director of Finance and then later Managing Director of Volta River Authority. And Mr. Godfrey W. Amartefio was Principal Welfare Officer; he was responsible for social welfare, evacuation and post- evacuation All the expat architects and planner works under Mr. Kobla and Mr. Amartefio as apart of the Working Party. Their designs were mainly respond to the come of social survey questionnaire by the Department of Social Welfare without direct contact with the resettled population.

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

50

Detail construction

51

5

Conclusion and Recommendations

“The government would ensure that no one was made worse off as a result of the creation of the lake”, Dr Kwame Nkrumah 1961 Through this paper I came to understand and identify with the achievements and failures of the Volta resettlement scheme. I would like to reemphasise the point at the beginning of this paper that the transfer of the ideology of Modernity and the technical knowledge from Planners/Architects to locals was made with good intentions.

Before a field study to five resettlement locations in Ghana – Senchi, Apeguso, Wusuta, Sabudu and Danyigba – I was prejudiced on the project as a failure of Modernism as an ideology imposed on the Ghanaian people and the landscape.

This is most likely due to the fact that most literature covering the study is critical of the resettlement scheme. The Volta Lake banks settlements and the settlers were seen as backward, regressive, underdeveloped and in need of modernization. I may conclude that my study in the field, and experience at close quarters has lead me to think again. It has made me change my mind in favour of the resettlement. The planners/architects have created open landscapes, a basic infrastructure and the core house, which can easily been transformed into a good living township. However, they have been left in many places deserted and ruinous.

The question of if whether resettles are now better or worse was not a part of the research. Additionally poverty and backwardness can be defined in many terms and it depends on which side of the debate you are. The resettlement scheme has been assailed with multiple problems: failure of a agricultural mechanical programme, a lack of holistic coordination on all parties that are involved, including the government officials, planners and architects dependent on social surveys. The resettled were not involved in the planning and design process.

In the official document of the VRA, Apeguso is made up together of 7 villages.

But on the location itself the Apeguso can be seen divided on ethnic lines. This can be seen through the transformation of the core house. The Ewes found it easier to adapt to the “core houses” and transformed it by building with new mud and thatch around the core house forming a compound housing on the given plot.

I do understood all the criticisms, especially that is it hard for a settler to understand why they cannot build as their forefathers built, in mud and thatch, because of a bylaw by VRA not allowing them at first to use traditional materials for extension of the core house. The main problem is the culture of dependence

52

on food and handouts, which was introduction by the VRA and the World Food Programme. This system of handouts has nurtured a collective sense of resentment, leading to a criticism of authorities in general and a culture of ‘waiting’ for external assistance. This has lead more than the architecture and planning to the ruin of the resettlements. Although it may be asked if the one is simply a mirror of the other, that they both belong to a system, rooted in this instance to a dogma of Modernism, and that any ‘system’ will always be found lacking as it is incapable of adapting sufficiently to local circumstances and of being appropriated by the local population.

Site selection The selection of sites for the township was mainly a question of achieving a satisfactory balance between social, economic and physical factors to support the proposed permanent agriculture system. The grouping of villages along ethnic lines in one settlement was based on being given an opportunity to make a choice of areas for their new settlement and which host community they would like to share their future settlement.

The settlements should have been located at a higher altitude to allow free air flow if possible. One big mistake which is still being made today is not taking advantage of the lake itself, the new townships were located away from the lake.

The alternative would be to make use of the lake for new settlement patterns and the agriculture/farm. With this the emphasis would be placed on how to integrate the lake in the planning and design of the townships.

Settlements size and service The number of houses constructed in the township was decided on convenience of construction and once again mainly informed by the agriculture programme.

Also mass production at one place is both cheaper and faster. Primary school allocation was calculated on the basis of one school block for every thousand population. Middle school was based on wherever there was one in the old settlement or within a new township and with reasonable access. This could have been calculated according to the number of children and their age range in the new settlements.

53

Plot size and density The standardization of plot by 60/70x100 ft has created a homogeneous but repetitive and monotonous landscape without a clear point of orientation. Most importantly, given the local traditions which the resettlement project replaced, the atmosphere created by a compact village centre that has grown over time in a piecemeal way has been lost and found incapable of being reproduced.

This would have been avoided if attention had been given to traditional village growth patterns with an introduction of a variation in plot size. The allocation plot would have been made according to the size of the family and the position of the settler , in economical and social terms. Different sizes of plot would at the least have allowed individual initiatives and lead to diversity.

House design and materialisation The basic structure of the core house concept was for good for a start, but it was poorly executed because of bad workmanship and the Volta River Authority bylaw which was implemented after the settlers move in to new location.

This bylaw did not allow the settlers to build their own space with traditional methods and materials. The basic structure should have been designed to adapt to traditional building methods and material. Furthermore using the settlers as advisors in the design and construction process would have helped the architects and planners to appreciate their new environment. Houses should have also been designed in variations according to the size of the family and needs.

I am firmly of the belief that should architects/ and planners have been involved at the early stage of resettlement programme up to a certain stage after which the settles could ‘takeover’ and control their own destiny then a more successful meeting of governmental ambitions, with its concomitant Modernistic ideals, with local traditions would have taken place. It is such a meeting that I hope will be yet fulfilled through a second generation of development.

The importance of the lake lies not only in the generation of electrical power but also now as an opportunity to re-orientate settlements to create new innovative inhabited landscapes of ‘lake settlements’ with housing, communication and farming.

The information in this paper is gathered from the sources given below and my own personal experience and observations in the field.

54

A primary school blok

Present situation of primary school blok at Danyigba

55

B

C

A D

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

56

A

B Present situation in Apeguso

C

D

57

A

B C D

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

58

A

B Present situation in Senchi

C

D

59

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

Source: Volta River Authority. Accra - Ghana

Present situation in Danyigba

Present situation in Sabuto

Bibliographic

Moxon, James - Volta: Man’s Greatest Lake CHAMBERS, Robert - The Volta Resettlement Experience London: Pall Mall Press, DIAW, Kofi. - Effects of Volta Lake Resettlement in Ghana – A Reappraisal after 25 years. Hamburg: Institute für Afrika-Kunde.

OBOSU-MENSAH Kwaku, - Ghana’s Volta Resettlement Scheme: The long-term consequences of post-colonial state planning. - San Francisco/Cal.

http://www.giga-hamburg.de/index.php?file=iz.html&folder=bibliothek http://www.vra.com/Publications/bibliography.php http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=196417 Mr. Francis Boateng . Volta River Authority. Real Estate and Security Department

This publication was made possible by financial support:

www.fondsbkvb.nl                         



sirron-kakpor architects - uBR*aa Vleuten www.sirron-kakpor.com

Knowledge partners joe osae-addo www.constructsllc.com

African Architecture Matters www.aamatters.nl

ArchiAfrika www.archiafrika.org

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology www.knust.edu.gh

www.ahk.nl/bouwkunst www.johnlonsdale.org

M3H Architects

www.m3h.nl

Volta River Authority www.vra.com

Ho Polytechnic hopolytechnic.objectis.net