The President of the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE), Ing. Ludwig Annang Hesse, has warned that Accra’s worsening flooding crisis is largely the result of decades of poor planning, environmental degradation and irresponsible human activities, insisting that the city has “brought this on itself”.
Hesse said flooding in the capital has become so predictable that it no longer requires any special warning.
“These days, we do not need a prophet to tell us that when it rains, Accra will flood,” he said.
According to him, flooding was once an occasional occurrence, happening every few years, but has now become an annual reality.
“We used to experience floods once in a while — perhaps once in 10 years, five years or even 20 years. Today, we know with certainty that Accra will flood every year, whether it is during the rainy season or not,” he stated.
Ing. Hesse attributed the situation to decades of unregulated development that have destroyed the city’s natural flood-control systems.
“For the past 30 or 40 years, we have done things the wrong way. We have filled all the water-retention areas and low-lying lands, and we have built in places where development should never have occurred,” he explained.
As a result, he said, rainwater now flows into the city far more rapidly than it did in the past, significantly increasing the risk of flooding.
“Water that once took about 12 hours to travel from Aburi to Accra now takes roughly an hour. The natural systems that slowed down the movement of water have been destroyed,” he noted.
The GhIE President warned that nearly all the natural areas that once absorbed and retained floodwaters have been compromised.
“All the water-retention areas in Accra have been compromised. We have brought this situation upon ourselves. We do not need a prophet anymore,” he said.
He cautioned that unless urgent and decisive action is taken, flooding will continue to affect multiple communities across the capital every year.
“We will continue to experience flooding in several parts of Accra annually. That is the situation we have created for ourselves,” he added.
Waste Disposal and Encroachment Worsening the Situation
Ing. Hesse also criticised the indiscriminate dumping of refuse into drains and waterways, describing it as a major contributor to the city’s drainage challenges.
“The drainage channels downstream, which are already operating beyond capacity, are filled with silt, rubbish and plastic waste,” he said.
He further lamented the continued encroachment on waterways and the destruction of critical floodwater collection areas.
“We are building in waterways and filling water-retention basins. Places such as Sakumono, Teshie and Korle are all being reclaimed and developed. If we continue on this path, we are heading towards a disaster,” he warned.
Shift Focus to Upstream Flood Management
According to Ing. Hesse, successive governments have largely focused on expanding drainage infrastructure, an approach he believes has failed to address the root causes of flooding.
“Most of the solutions we have pursued over the years have been downstream solutions. We continue to expand drainage systems and invest heavily in them, but because the natural water-retention areas have been compromised, the water still overwhelms the system,” he explained.
He argued that Ghana must now adopt what he described as an “upstream” approach to flood management, which involves retaining rainwater closer to where it falls before it enters major drains and waterways.
“The only viable option left is for each household to retain the rainwater that falls on its property for a period and release it gradually after peak flooding has passed,” he said.
While acknowledging that such a strategy would take time to implement on a large scale, he maintained that it offers the most practical long-term solution to Accra’s persistent flooding problem.
“This is the only realistic option left to address Accra’s drainage challenges and minimise flooding in the city,” he stated.