Ayensu River Pollution Deepens Water Crisis in Central Region Communities

“We once drank from this river, but today we can’t even bathe with it,” a concerned elder lamented. “We vote for leaders who don’t think about our well-being.”

Beyond drinking water, the river’s decline has disrupted farming and fishing. Farmers say their crops are suffering from contaminated irrigation, while fishmongers report sharply reduced catches. Community leaders described the breakdown of social life that once revolved around the river, now replaced with anxiety and daily survival tactics.

The crisis has also become a flashpoint for political debate. At a press conference at the treatment plant, opposition aide Dennis Miracles Aboagye criticised the government’s handling of illegal mining, linking the pollution to weak enforcement and inadequate policy responses.

“This is not water anymore,” NPP communicators on the ground declared, as they drew attention to the human cost of the crisis. They called on the ruling administration to present new, implementable plans instead of recycling old policies.

Government critics say decisive action is long overdue, warning that failure to stop illegal mining along the Ayensu and other rivers could push entire communities into deeper hardship.

For residents, however, the political exchanges mean little compared to their daily reality. “We are suffering now,” said a food seller in Mankrong. “Tomorrow may be worse if nothing changes.”