Abstract:
Large dams were central to policy making in Ghana and the rest of Africa in the early postcolonial
period as part of the quest for development, framed in terms of the socioeconomic and cultural
modernisation that pertained in advanced industrialised countries. Ghana has constructed three
large dams, primarily for the provision of hydroelectricity, to catalyse industrialisation. There are
plans for other dams in the future. Against the background of debates about large dams and their
implications for the environment and human wellbeing, and the continuing global interest in dam
construction, particularly in developing countries, this paper provides a retrospective overview of
large dams in Ghana, with a specific focus on the Akosombo, Kpong and Bui dams. It notes that
decisions and processes leading to dam construction often involve a diverse array of actors
operating at different levels, with multiple interests. This potentially leads to indeterminate
consequences; therefore, understanding the dialectics of decision making is helpful to avoid binary
dichotomies such as macro–micro and local–global. Thus, our understanding of the interface
between water politics and large dams, on the one hand, and the quest for socioeconomic
development, on the other, would be enhanced by an expansion of the analytical gaze to capture
the nuances and complexities resulting from a diversity of actors and power relations. Ghana’s
experiences with the construction of large dams also show that, while broader narratives about
socioeconomic development play a major role, especially in terms of openness or otherwise of the
domestic decision-making process, the source of funds has also proved to be a deciding factor: it
shapes (1) the access of transnational actors to decision-making processes; and (2) the design
and execution of dam projects. Furthermore, energy, economic and development considerations
have outweighed ecological and environmental concerns regarding dams, with implications for
those living near them. This is partly because decision-making processes have been largely elitist
and technocratic, with limited consultations on potential environmental impacts.
