Tamale, July 2, GNA - Authorities in Burkina Faso have alerted the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) that their dams were full and they would be compelled to open them to allow the water flow into the White Volta.

Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, announced this on Tuesday at a reception hosted by the RCC for senior citizens to mark this year's republic day.

He, therefore, urged people living along the riverbanks, especially farmers to move upstream to avoid any disaster as occurred during last years floods, which destroyed several hectares of farmland, houses and property in the three Northern Regions and rendered several people homeless.

The Regional Minister also charged all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives in the region to ensure that measures were put in place to avoid any causality should the excess water from Burkina Faso flood the rivers and tributaries in the region.

At the reception, the Minister also urged politicians to campaign on issues and avoid playing on the ethnic and factional emotions of people saying that: "It is counter-productive to be beating war drums and continue to incite or make provocative utterances that tend to deepen divisions and cause strife".

He said Ghanaians were a peace loving people who should not allow their country to degenerate into the Kenyan or Zimbabwean situations. Several prominent senior citizens, including Hajia Adisah Munkaila, former member of the Council of State and Mr James Bakari and Mr Seidu Seini both retired educationist were honoured for their socio-economic contributions to the country.