Water crisis in Teshie enclave worsens as desalination plant remains shut over debts
The inadequate water supply to the Teshie-Nungua enclave of Accra in the Greater Accra Region has become worse as the Teshie-Nungua Desalination Plant remains shut down over unpaid debts.
The places hardest hit by the water shortage include Teshie, Nungua, Baatsona, Spintex, Sakumono, La, and the surrounding areas.
In October 2025, the Teshie-Nungua Desalination Plant, which converted seawater to potable drinking water and supplied it mainly to these areas, was shut down by the Ghana Water Company (GWL).
In shutting it down, the GWL had explained that its decision was due to unresolved contractual obligations between it and operators of the facility and a culture of a lack of critical maintenance of the facility.
The shutdown, it further explained, was to avoid further contractual difficulties and to ensure that the facility was safe.
It then assured residents at the time that the issues were going to be resolved speedily and normal operations restored, while temporary measures had been put in place to mitigate the effects of the shutdown.
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and assure the public that engagements are ongoing to expedite the resolution of the matter and restore normal operations,” the statement, signed by the head of PR at GWL, Stanley Martey, had assured.
But several months down the line, on January 8, 2026, the GWL had to release a water rationing schedule as the water crisis worsened following agitations from residents.
Notwithstanding the schedule, checks in these areas show that the water situation has not become any better, as residents are still left with inadequate water and are forced to buy water from private individuals and firms or go outside their communities in search of the precious liquid.
It is unclear if the plant will ever start operating again given the fact that the government in 2025 failed to make any financial commitment to the running of the facility that is currently being left to rot.
In the wake of its high operation costs and other challenges, it has been established that the government, unlike the previous administration that financed the running of the facility, has not committed resources to the smooth running of the plant.
Documents available reveal that in 2024, the Government of Ghana (GoG), through the Ministry of Finance under the previous administration, made a payment of $13m to complement GWL payments to keep the facility running
Checks, however, reveal that several attempts to have the finance ministry release funds for the project in 2025 in order to keep taps of beneficiary communities running have not yielded any results, leaving officials of the Ghana Water Company in a distressing situation.
Whatever the case may be, calls have intensified for a quick solution to the water shortages in these area,s notwithstanding the schedule for water rationing.
Background
The Teshie-Nungua Desalination Plant, which was inaugurated in 2015, was designed to produce about 13 million gallons of treated water per day from seawater to serve residents along the coastal belt.
The facility was to serve about 500,000 people in the catchment areas of Teshie, Nungua, Baatsona, Sakumono, parts of La Dade Kotopon, and its environs.
The project investment totalling USD 126 million was completed in February 2015 with support from Abengoa Water, Spain, and Sojitz Corporation of Japan. The project was commissioned on 17th April 2015 by the President of the Republic of Ghana.