By Dr. Charles Nunoo
The tragedy unfolding in Accra is not simply the result of heavy rainfall. It reflects decades of engineering, planning, governance, environmental, and behavioural failures that have converged with increasingly intense rainfall events.
The recent floods have submerged communities, destroyed homes and businesses, disrupted livelihoods, and claimed lives in Accra and nearby Tema. Authorities have confirmed fatalities and warned that more rainfall is expected in the coming days.
As a civil engineer, I view the crisis as the consequence of six interconnected systems failures.
1. Drainage Infrastructure Designed for a Different Accra
Much of Accra’s major stormwater drainage network was designed decades ago for a city with a much smaller population, extensive open spaces and wetlands, fewer paved surfaces, and significantly lower stormwater runoff.
Today, Greater Accra has grown into a densely urbanised metropolitan area with millions of residents. Rainwater that once infiltrated naturally into the ground now flows rapidly across concrete and asphalt surfaces, overwhelming drainage systems that were never designed to accommodate such volumes.
The challenge extends beyond blocked gutters. Many of the city’s primary and secondary drainage systems simply lack the hydraulic capacity required for today’s urban environment.
2. Loss of Wetlands and Flood Plains
Historically, wetlands, lagoons, and flood plains served as natural reservoirs that temporarily stored excess stormwater. Areas around the Odaw River Basin, Korle Lagoon, and Sakumo Lagoon played vital roles in reducing flood risks.
Over the years, however, many wetlands have been reclaimed, waterways narrowed, and flood plains converted into residential and commercial developments.
Nature eventually reclaims its course. When buildings occupy natural flood plains, floodwaters inevitably pass through those communities.
3. A Waste Management Crisis
One of the most visible contributors to flooding is the accumulation of plastic waste, sachet water bags, construction debris, household refuse, and market waste in drains and culverts across the city.
This creates three major engineering problems:
- Reduced drainage capacity.
- Upstream backwater effects.
- Sudden overflow when blocked sections can no longer contain stormwater.
A drainage channel operating at only 30 to 40 per cent of its design capacity due to blockages is likely to fail even during moderate rainfall.
Ironically, this is one of the easiest technical problems to solve, yet one of the most difficult politically.
4. Weak Planning and Development Control
Perhaps the greatest governance failure has been the continued development of flood-prone areas.
Illegal or poorly regulated construction has occurred on flood plains, wetlands, drainage reservations, waterways, and natural channels. In some instances, building permits have reportedly been issued despite obvious flood risks, while unauthorised structures have remained untouched for years.
Flood-risk maps, hydrological studies, and engineering expertise already exist. What has often been lacking is consistent enforcement.
5. Fragmented Institutional Responsibilities
Flood management responsibilities are shared among numerous institutions, including the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Hydrological Services Department, Ghana Water Limited, district assemblies, and traditional authorities.
While each institution plays an important role, overlapping responsibilities can weaken accountability and delay coordinated action.
Effective flood management requires a single metropolitan authority with clear legal responsibility for drainage infrastructure, land-use regulation, enforcement, and emergency response.
6. Climate Change Is Intensifying Existing Vulnerabilities
Climate change is not the primary cause of Accra’s flooding, but it is undoubtedly worsening existing weaknesses.
Rainfall events are becoming more intense, more concentrated, and less predictable. Drainage systems designed decades ago for less severe storms are increasingly being overwhelmed by rainfall that now occurs more frequently.
A Long-Term Solution
There is no single intervention capable of eliminating flooding in Accra. What is required is a comprehensive 15- to 20-year metropolitan flood resilience programme.
Phase One (1–3 Years): Emergency Measures
Priority actions should include a comprehensive drainage audit using LiDAR mapping and hydraulic modelling, a citywide flood-risk assessment, extensive desilting and dredging of major drainage corridors, routine monthly drain maintenance, and strict enforcement against indiscriminate dumping through fines, surveillance, and community sanctions.
Phase Two (3–8 Years): Major Engineering Investments
Long-term engineering works should focus on constructing large stormwater interceptors, underground tunnels, retention and detention basins, restoring wetlands, and expanding green infrastructure such as permeable pavements, rain gardens, bioswales, urban forests, and green roofs.
Phase Three (5–15 Years): Land-Use Reform
Urban development reforms should include digitising all building permits to improve transparency, making flood-risk assessments mandatory for developments in vulnerable areas, and relocating settlements located in zones where long-term protection is neither technically nor economically feasible.
Reforming Waste Management
Ghana should also consider introducing deposit-return schemes for plastic bottles, restricting certain single-use plastics, enforcing extended producer responsibility laws, promoting waste separation at source, and investing in waste-to-energy facilities.
Countries such as Rwanda and Singapore demonstrate that urban cleanliness depends more on effective governance and enforcement than on national income levels.
Citizens Also Have a Responsibility
Government shortcomings are undeniable, but citizens also play a crucial role.
Indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains, building on waterways, illegally connecting sewage to storm drains, and ignoring official warnings all contribute to the cycle of flooding.
Building resilient cities requires civic responsibility alongside sound engineering and effective governance.
The Political Challenge
The engineering solutions are well understood, and while the financial investment required is substantial, it is not beyond Ghana’s capacity.
The greatest barriers remain political short-termism, weak enforcement, corruption in land administration, fragmented institutions, and public tolerance of non-compliance.
Immediate National Priorities
If advising the Government of Ghana, I would recommend five urgent actions:
- Declare urban flooding a national security priority.
- Establish an independent Greater Accra Flood Authority.
- Publish comprehensive flood-risk maps for public access.
- Remove structures obstructing major waterways without political interference.
- Implement a 20-year Accra Flood Resilience Master Plan protected from changes in political administration.
The annual flooding of Accra is not inevitable. Cities such as Amsterdam, Tokyo, Miami, and Singapore successfully manage even greater water-related challenges.
The difference is not engineering knowledge. It is sustained political commitment, effective enforcement, and long-term planning.
Accra does not have a rain problem. It has a governance and urban management problem that the rain exposes year after year.