Once more, devastating floods have swept through Accra and its surrounding communities, leaving a trail of loss, destruction, and anguish. The Ghana WASH Journalists Network (GWJN) has voiced its profound sadness over the tragedy, as lives have been lost, homes and businesses destroyed, and thousands of residents traumatized by yet another round of flooding.
In a statement, GWJN extended heartfelt condolences to grieving families and expressed solidarity with all whose livelihoods have been upended. “Every life lost to flooding in Ghana is one too many,” the network lamented, adding that the recurrence of such tragedies is now unacceptable and demands urgent, lasting solutions.
Year after year, governments make promises, form committees, and launch emergency interventions, yet the same communities flood whenever the rains come. GWJN insists that Ghana deserves better and that the national flood management strategy requires a complete overhaul.
The network identified the well-known causes of Accra’s flooding: illegal developments on wetlands and waterways, poor land-use planning and enforcement, choked drains from indiscriminate dumping, rapid urbanization without matching drainage infrastructure, and weak institutional coordination, among others. “Floods are natural, but disasters come from human failure,” GWJN stressed.
GWJN argued that flood prevention must become a permanent national development priority, not just a seasonal emergency. The network called on the Ghana Hydrological Authority (HYDRO), Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), and the Ministry of Works and Housing to move decisively to protect all remaining wetlands and drainage corridors from encroachment. “No road project should proceed without comprehensive drainage engineering, and the destruction of wetlands for housing and infrastructure must end immediately.”
Recalling the formation of the Anti-Flood Taskforce in March 2025 by President John Dramani Mahama, GWJN questioned what had become of its findings and recommendations. The network demanded transparency and accountability, pressing for measurable progress in preventing a repeat of these tragic scenes.
GWJN called on the government to demonstrate bold political leadership, enforcing planning laws, reclaiming wetlands, strengthening engineering standards, and holding public officials accountable for negligence. “This is not the time for temporary solutions or annual emergency responses. Permanent engineering solutions and strong political will are needed.”
Citizens, too, have a role to play. The network urged Ghanaians to end indiscriminate dumping and illegal building on waterways, warning that these actions worsen the crisis. GWJN pledged to intensify media advocacy on environmental sanitation, drainage protection, and flood prevention, and to expose those who undermine the nation’s safety.
Flooding, GWJN insisted, should not define Ghana’s rainy seasons. The expertise and institutions exist, what remains is coordinated action, enforcement, and sustained political commitment.
The network also called for immediate protection of safe water sources, proper testing and treatment of submerged pipes and boreholes, and, if possible, the provision of emergency safe water supplies to affected communities.
“The time to act decisively is now,” GWJN concluded, urging all stakeholders to rise to the occasion and end the cycle of flooding once and for all.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com