A tragic boat disaster that struck the Okumah community at Kete Krachi in the Oti Region on Saturday, October 11, 2025, claimed the lives of 15 individuals, including several children. The speedboat, carrying 19 passengers, capsized while traveling from the island community of Okumakrua to Debume for a funeral. This incident, attributed to alleged overloading and an unstable balance, plunged the nation into renewed grief over preventable water transport accidents.

In response to the tragedy, Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang visited the affected community, meeting with grieving families and residents to offer the government's condolences and support. She announced that the government would bear the full cost of burial for the 16 victims affected by the disaster. Furthermore, the Vice President provided substantial relief items, including 200 life jackets, four bales of second-hand clothing, 70 cartons of Frytol cooking oil, 100 bags of rice, 10 cartons of soap, 100 bales of mosquito nets, and GH¢200,000 cash to assist the bereaved families. She also adopted a survivor and her baby, demonstrating a deeply personal commitment to the community's welfare.

During her visit to Okuma-Debume, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang passionately urged residents living along riverbanks, particularly boat operators and passengers, to strictly adhere to safety measures. She emphasized the critical importance of consistently wearing life jackets, stating that this simple act could significantly reduce fatalities in water accidents. The Vice President stressed that her visit was not for political gain but to stand in solidarity with the community during their moment of profound grief, reaffirming the government's commitment to enhancing safety measures along Ghana’s waterways and promising further interventions.

However, the Okumah boat disaster is not an isolated incident but rather the latest in a troubling pattern of preventable fatalities on Ghana's waterways. Critics highlight a systemic national negligence, pointing to a catalog of similar tragedies: seven lives lost on the Volta Lake in April 2022, five more in the Ada River in March 2023, eighteen passengers perishing on Lake Volta in May 2023 due to a submerged tree stump, eleven drowning on the Oti River in June 2024, and five deaths on the Volta Lake in August 2025. This disturbing sequence of events has led to at least 61 reported deaths since January 2022, primarily among the nation's less privileged citizens who rely on these waterways for daily travel.

The recurring causes for these disasters are consistently identified as overloaded boats, a severe lack of life jackets, poor enforcement of existing regulations, unmarked water routes, adverse weather conditions, and an inadequate rescue response system. Despite the existence of numerous state institutions like the Marine Police Division, Ghana Maritime Authority, Volta River Authority, and NADMO, charged with ensuring water safety, accountability remains elusive. There is a palpable sense of societal indifference, where the deaths of the poor in such tragedies are often met with silence, a mere headline, or a passing conversation, unlike the national outrage and official responses typically observed when high-profile individuals are involved.

Many argue that these are not natural disasters but rather critical policy failures. The repeated official line that 'victims were not wearing life jackets' is seen as disingenuous when the state itself fails to supply these basic safety items or enforce their use effectively. Calls for action include the registration and inspection of every boat, mandatory life jackets for all passengers, training for local captains, establishment of rescue centers along the Volta basin, and strict prosecution of operators violating safety protocols. Until comprehensive and sustained measures are implemented, the Volta Lake, a vital highway of survival for thousands, risks remaining a tragic graveyard for the poor, continuously betraying the trust of its citizens.