By Ahotor FM News Desk | June 3, 2026
Eleven years after one of Ghana’s deadliest disasters, local government expert and political analyst Amon Issaka Kotei says the country has failed to draw meaningful lessons from the tragedy.
Speaking on Ahotor FM’s morning programme Adekyee Mu Nsem, Kotei argued that Ghana has made little progress in addressing the underlying causes of the June 3, 2015 disaster, which claimed more than 150 lives and left a lasting scar on the nation.
On that fateful evening, torrential rains triggered severe flooding across large parts of Accra, while a massive explosion at a fuel station near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle turned the disaster into a deadly inferno. Scores of people lost their lives in both the floodwaters and the fire, leaving many families devastated and the nation in mourning.
However, Kotei believes the country’s response has largely been limited to commemorations rather than lasting action.
“To this day, when it rains heavily in Accra, the city floods. The gutters are choked, the drainage systems are inadequate, and the attitude of this country is that we only talk about floods during the rainy season. Once the rains are over, everybody forgets, and nothing is done,” he told host Nana Dogbe.
Kotei identified poor waste management as a major contributor to Ghana’s persistent flooding challenges. According to him, many metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies still lack effective waste management departments, resulting in large volumes of waste ending up in gutters, waterways and drainage systems.
“We don’t have waste management departments in many of our local districts and municipalities. About 40 per cent of waste is left scattered around, choking gutters and drains. There has been no significant improvement in waste management, and little has been done to improve drainage infrastructure to control or prevent flooding,” he stated.
His comments come as Accra prepares for another rainy season, with residents in flood-prone communities once again expressing concerns over the risk of flooding and its potential consequences.
For the families of those who lost their lives in the June 3 disaster, Kotei said the painful reality is that many of the conditions that contributed to the tragedy remain largely unchanged more than a decade later.
Story by Andy Koranteng