The Akosombo dam and Jesus the Light of the world!

The Italian Contractors, Impregilo SPA, arrived in Ghana at the last quarter of the year 1961, to undertake the construction of the Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, after completing the Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe. The Akosombo town was practically uninhabited prior to the commencement of the Volta River Project. The township came into existence as a result of the construction of the Akosombo Dam, and with it came also, the Roman Catholic Movement, which was started by the contractors of the Dam in January 1962.

The construction of the Dam started by splitting the river into two parts. The rationale was to divert or flood part of the river into a reservoir at a higher elevation than the rest of the Dam, known as the Hydraulic Head, a major factor in determining how much electricity can be generated. This is because the water, held at a higher level, has a certain amount of potential energy that is converted to the rotational motion of turbines as it falls and spins the turbine’s blades. However all attempts to redirect the River was unsuccessful.

After trying several times without much success, the leader of the contractors, requested they invite a Catholic Priest to pray over the dam site, since most people, especially the indigenous citizens of Akosombo believed the cause to this problems were due to the fact that the River god was unhappy with the construction of the dam.

A church was constructed to serve as a place of worship for the workers who were Catholics, and for seeking God’s intervention, guidance, protection and direction during the construction of the Dam. The church was constructed in 1962, within twenty-one (21) days, to meet the visit of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, the then Archbishop of Milan, (Italy) who was visiting Ghana that year, was invited purposely to pray over the dam site and the workers. In the Church was placed a memorial plaque, honouring twenty-eight workers of Impregilo SPA, who lost their lives because of the construction of the Dam.

The Cardinal, in his homily during the dedication of the Santa Barbara Catholic Church, envisioned the growing Volta Dam to be “A Monument Of Nations Working Together, A Symbol Of The Brotherhood Of Nations, A Sign Of Peace And Progress …..”

The Cardinal, praying for the successful construction of the Akosombo Dam, revealed to the contractors that, there was a huge rock, beneath the River that was serving as an obstacle and hence should be removed.

The rock was removed and divided into three (Trinity) parts. The rock, divided into the three parts can be found even today at three different locations in Akosombo.
One of the three parts, was placed at the centre of the Akosombo Roundabout, one was placed infront of the Volta Hotel and the final part, the biggest of the three parts, was positioned infront of the Catholic Church, Akosombo.

The contractors carried out the dredging of the river bed and dewatering of the channel, and completed the dam a month earlier than scheduled despite difficulties associated with flooding of the Volta River, which delayed work over three months.

The Church was dedicated to the glory of God on the 8th of August, 1962, and named after Santa Barbara, the Patron Saint of the contractors.

Significantly eye-catching in the frontage of the first Santa Barbara Chapel is a Cross purposely erected to face and directly overlook the centre of the Akosombo Dam. The positioning of this cross in accordance with Cardinal Montini’s prayer, is indicative of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’s permanent Divine protection over the Dam during and after its construction.

The Santa Barbara Chapel, is the first major monument to be built on the soils of Akosombo by Impregilo, the Contractor of the Dam. The relationship between Church and State, for the common good, can be beautifully deduced from this venture. It is as if, Jesus, who first proclaims Himself to be the LIGHT of the world (John 8:12) worked closely with the human beings He later proclaimed to be the LIGHT of the world (Mathew 5:14) to produce Electricity (LIGHT) for the nation Ghana.

As if by coincidence, but I believe it to be rather by God’s own plan, the nearest Catholic Church to Akosombo at the time, was the St. Anthony (now St. Christopher) Catholic Church at Atimpoku, which had earlier been built by some Staff of Dorman Long Engineering Company during the construction of the Adomi Bridge in 1955. Believe it or not, these two national asserts are significantly awesome to behold, almost beating human imagination, and rightly so because, God had a hand in the construction of both.

Interestingly, Cardinal Giovanni Montini was a few months later elected Pope, after the death of Pope John XXIII in June 1963, and he took the papal name, Pope Paul VI. He died on the 6th of August, 1978.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s speech at the formal inauguration of the Volta River project, he said, “I am personally happy that so many of those connected with this scheme are here with us today for this inauguration. In addition, I am pleased that His Holiness Pope Paul VI has seen fit to send a Papal representative to witness the ceremony.”

This same Pope Paul VI, who before becoming Pope was Cardinal Giovanni Montini, was Canonized a Saint on 14th October, 2018.

May the prayers of St. Pope Paul VI continue to be with our nation Ghana & the town of Akosombo.