Every rainy season, the same heartbreaking scenes unfold across Ghana, especially in Accra. Homes disappear beneath floodwaters. Businesses are destroyed. Roads become rivers. Precious lives are lost. Public officials promise action, committees are formed, and the nation mourns—until the next rainy season, when the tragedy repeats itself.
This is not merely a natural disaster. It is a disaster manufactured by human negligence, political interference, corruption, and institutional failure.
The question that must confront every Ghanaian is simple: Who authorised buildings on waterways? No one wakes up one morning and erects a structure—whether a house, a factory, or a filling station—without first acquiring land documentation and the necessary permits. Before any structure is built, various state institutions are expected to examine the location, approve the plans, and ensure compliance with planning regulations.
If buildings have found their way onto waterways, then permits did not issue themselves. Someone approved them. Someone looked away. Someone refused to enforce the law. And all this is due to either political influence or parochial interests.
What, then, is the purpose of our planning authorities? What role are our Town and Country Planning Departments, Physical Planning Departments, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, and other regulatory agencies playing? Are they blind to these illegal developments, or are they prevented from acting?
Sadly, many hardworking public officers are unable to perform their lawful duties because political patronage and nepotism have weakened the very institutions they serve. Too often, a politically connected individual disregards planning regulations with absolute confidence, knowing that powerful people will intervene to shield them from accountability when their actions lead to serious consequences.
The rule of law has gradually been replaced by the rule of political influence. And the consequences are devastating.
We spend millions of Ghana cedis recovering from disasters that could have been prevented through the simple enforcement of existing laws. We hold press conferences after lives have been lost, but rarely summon the courage to stop illegal developments before tragedy strikes.
While governments deserve the greatest share of the blame, the responsibility does not end there. Politicians repeatedly fail to enforce planning regulations because they fear losing votes. Illegal structures are tolerated because elections are always around the corner. Governments of every political persuasion have sacrificed law enforcement on the altar of political expediency.
Regulatory institutions must also accept responsibility whenever they fail to enforce the law or allow themselves to be intimidated by political pressure.
Developers who knowingly build on waterways are equally culpable. Profit can never justify placing entire communities at risk.
Ordinary citizens, too, must examine their own conduct. Ironically, many of the same people who condemn government after floods often resist demolition exercises. When authorities finally attempt to remove illegal structures, they are accused of being insensitive, vindictive, or politically motivated. Yet when floods destroy lives and property, those same authorities are condemned for failing to act. We cannot have it both ways.
If we oppose the enforcement of the law today, we should not be surprised when nature enforces its own laws tomorrow.
The annual floods that continue to plague our cities are symptoms of a deeper national disease: institutions that have been weakened by political interference, corruption, and selective application of the law.
Until Ghana allows its institutions to operate independently and fearlessly, without interference from politicians seeking votes, influential individuals protecting personal interests, or citizens defending illegality, our annual floods will remain with us.
Indeed, flooding is only one manifestation of the problem. The same institutional weakness lies behind illegal mining, indiscriminate development, environmental degradation, corruption, poor sanitation, and many of the chronic challenges confronting our nation.
Strong institutions are not built by speeches. They are built when the law is applied equally to the powerful and the powerless alike.
Nature does not recognise political parties, social status, or connections. Floodwaters do not distinguish between the rich and the poor.
If we continue to undermine our institutions for political convenience, we should expect the rains to keep exposing our national failure. We should expect more looting at the expense of the state. And our hospitals will continue to be without beds, our communities will be without electricity, potable water, road networks, and so on.
The solution is not another committee or another round of promises. The solution is simple, though politically difficult. Allow our institutions to work. Enforce the law without fear or favour. Hold every offender accountable. Only then will Ghana begin to overcome not only the yearly floods but many of the self-inflicted crises that continue to hold our nation back.
The Trial News
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!