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Flooding Is a Structural Crisis, Not Seasonal: Ghana Engineers Call Out Government Failures
Ghana’s top engineering body says the country has a “knowledge problem” — it lacks the political will to implement proven solutions.
The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has issued a scathing assessment of the country’s flood management approach, declaring that Accra’s devastating floods are “no longer simply a seasonal occurrence” but a “structural challenge driven by rapid urbanisation, loss of natural infiltration areas, and fragmented management systems”.
The warning comes in the wake of the June 29, 2026, floods that claimed at least 12 lives, displaced 38,802 people across 7,761 households, and left seven others still missing. The torrential rainfall, which measured 169 millimetres in a single day, was the fourth-highest daily rainfall recorded in Ghana since 1995.
“Ghana Does Not Have a Knowledge Problem”
In a strongly worded position statement issued on June 30, the GhIE said Ghana already has the technical expertise to solve its flooding crisis but lacks the political will to implement proven solutions.
“Ghana does not have a knowledge problem. We have an action problem,” the statement declared.
The Institution warned that emergency responses alone are insufficient to protect lives and property.
“Today’s floods were not caused by rain alone. They were the result of how we plan, enforce laws, manage waste, design roads and channel water through our cities,” the engineers wrote. “Every one of these factors is within our control. We are simply choosing, year after year, not to change”.
Drainage Systems ‘No Longer Capable’
According to a policy brief presented by the Institution, Ghana’s cities can no longer rely on traditional centralised, conveyance-based drainage systems. Rapid urban expansion, widespread paving of land surfaces, poor waste management practices, and increasing rainfall intensity have significantly exceeded the capacity of existing drainage networks.
The Institution observed that flooding incidents have become more frequent and severe over the past decade, occurring even during periods of relatively low rainfall. “This suggests that the problem extends beyond climate change and reflects deeper weaknesses within existing stormwater management systems,” the policy brief noted.
Many drains have effectively become conduits for solid waste, reducing hydraulic capacity and compromising their intended function. The policy brief also singled out hydraulic constraints within the Odaw-Korle drainage system as a persistent contributor to recurring flood events across parts of the capital.
Institutional Fragmentation and Political Interference
The GhIE identified institutional fragmentation as a major obstacle to effective flood management. Responsibilities are spread across multiple agencies, while administrative boundaries often do not align with natural drainage basins, making coordinated catchment-wide planning difficult.
The engineers also took aim at unchecked development, calling for stricter enforcement of planning regulations, including a halt to construction on waterways and wetlands.
“Stop building in the wrong places, and mean it,” the engineers urged. “This is the hardest step, because it touches powerful interests and uncomfortable permits. It is also the one that matters most, because no amount of engineering can save a city that keeps building over its own rivers”.
On road infrastructure, the Institution warned that the Department of Urban Roads and the Ghana Highway Authority must be fully integrated into national flood management planning, ensuring that all road projects include properly designed drainage systems with dedicated maintenance funding.
“A road built without a working drain is just a future flood channel,” the statement warned.
A Radical Shift in Thinking
To address these challenges, the GhIE is advocating a transition towards decentralised, nature-based stormwater management systems that mimic natural hydrological processes. Recommended interventions include permeable pavements, bioswales, rain gardens, green roofs, detention systems, infiltration facilities, riparian buffers, and rainwater harvesting.
The Institution is also calling for a National Post-Development Runoff Control Policy to ensure that new developments do not generate runoff volumes and peak flows beyond pre-development conditions. In addition, it recommends a National Rainwater Harvesting Policy, stronger enforcement of land-use regulations, catchment-based planning units, protection of waterway buffer zones, and greater private-sector participation in green infrastructure development.
According to the GhIE, adopting these measures could significantly reduce flood frequency and severity, improve water quality, lower long-term infrastructure costs, create green jobs, and strengthen Ghana’s resilience to climate change.
Government Response
The government has since released GH¢350 million from the Contingency Fund to support emergency relief operations and flood mitigation measures. Of this amount, GH¢200 million has been earmarked for immediate humanitarian assistance, while GH¢150 million has been allocated to flood mitigation projects intended to strengthen drainage infrastructure.
But the GhIE has made clear that money alone will not solve the problem. The Institution reaffirmed its readiness to work with government agencies to translate its proposals into practical solutions ahead of the next rainy season.
“The evidence is clear,” the report concludes. “Ghana must shift from downstream, conveyance-based engineering to upstream, decentralised, nature-mimicking stormwater management. The time for policy reform is now”.
The government has launched a major military-led operation to reclaim the Lafa water retention basin at Mallam, deploying the 48 Engineer Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces in a high-stakes effort to break the cycle of perennial flooding that has devastated communities in Mallam, Weija, Blue Lagoon, Dansoman and surrounding areas for years.
The intervention, which involves breaking up tonnes of compacted solid waste and dredging heavily silted sediment from the basin, comes nearly two months after torrential rains on June 29 triggered catastrophic flooding across the Greater Accra Region.
The exercise is being coordinated by the Post-Flood Mitigation Task Force, led by the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations, Mr Stan Xoese Dogbe.
“We are dealing with decades of deliberate dumping,” said Ing. Richard Kofi Amekor, Head of Drainage at the Ghana Hydrological Authority. “Solid waste, boulders and laterite have been tipped into this basin for years. The reservoir is so heavily silted that rainwater could not flow into it naturally, causing backflow that swamped Blue Lagoon, the Mallam-Gbawe corridor and parts of Dansoman.”
According to Ing. Amekor, the Lafa stream originates from Mallam-Gbawe Zero and passes through Santa Maria, Atieku, Pallas Town, Alhaji Tabora and McCarthy Hill before draining into the basin and eventually into the sea. But the obstruction of the basin turned the watercourse into a death trap during the June downpour.
The military engineers face an arduous task. Brigadier General Richard Kinney, Commander of the 14 Engineer Brigade, revealed that the waste had been capped with laterite over the years to create land for illegal sale and development, making excavation particularly difficult.
“Our immediate task is to loosen the compacted material before removal. To minimise traffic disruptions, all haulage of excavated debris will be undertaken at night to the designated landfill site at Nsawam,” Brig. Gen. Kinney stated. He added that the entire dredging and evacuation exercise is expected to take several months.
Beyond the dredging, officials are calling for a more permanent solution: the demolition of all illegal structures erected within the water retention area. Ing. Amekor noted that buildings constructed inside the basin have substantially reduced its storage capacity.
“Once the illegal structures are removed, the Hydrological Authority will work with the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly to secure the banks and ensure continuous monitoring,” he said, warning that restoration of the basin will significantly reduce flooding impacts, though it may not eliminate flooding entirely due to the area’s topography and upstream runoff.
Brigadier General Forster Okae-Yeboah, Director General of Joint Operations of the Ghana Armed Forces and Coordinator of the Flood Mitigation Works, confirmed that the Mallam operation is part of a wider, nationwide offensive. Similar dredging works are ongoing at Oyarifa, East Legon and the Kpeshie Lagoon, while work will begin next week around the Kpeshie-Laboma Beach enclave to reopen the channel linking the lagoon to the sea.
“Government has fulfilled its commitment by providing funding and equipment for this exercise, but we appeal to the private sector to support this nationwide initiative,” Brig. Gen. Okae-Yeboah said.
He stressed that military action alone would not solve Ghana’s flooding crisis without sustained public cooperation.
“Residents must stop dumping refuse into the basin and encroachers must vacate immediately. Only by protecting our waterways can we protect lives and property,” he admonished.
Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson is calling for a shift in Ghana’s economic relationship with China, arguing that the country needs investment in factories, technology and local industries rather than a trade structure dominated by the export of raw materials.
Forson made the case as Ghana and China opened the Fifth Session of the Ghana–China Joint Commission on Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation, where he urged both countries to embrace a new approach centred on value addition, industrial investment, technology transfer and job creation.
While China remains Ghana’s largest trading partner, Forson said the structure of that relationship must evolve to ensure more of the wealth generated from Ghanaian resources remains within the country.
“Ghana’s priority is to process more of what we produce and export more value-added goods, including processed cocoa, to China,” Forson said.
His message amounted to a broader call for investment that helps Ghana build its productive capacity at home.
“We are also seeking investments that build factories, transfer technology, support Ghanaian businesses, train our people and create sustainable jobs,” he added.
A trade relationship marked by imbalance
The call comes as trade between Ghana and China continues to grow. Bilateral trade reached a record $14.1 billion in 2025, representing a 19.3% increase from the previous year.
But the figures also highlight a longstanding imbalance. In 2024, China exported about $9.844 billion worth of goods to Ghana, compared with roughly $1.992 billion in Ghanaian exports to China.
China’s exports have included machinery, electrical equipment, textiles and steel, while Ghana’s exports have largely consisted of commodities such as crude oil, manganese ore and cocoa beans.
Forson’s argument is that Ghana must move further up the value chain — processing its own resources and agricultural products before they leave the country rather than importing higher-value finished goods.
For a country whose economy has long relied heavily on commodity exports, the push for domestic processing could also mean more opportunities for manufacturing and employment.
China opens its market — but can Ghana capitalize?
The renewed focus on industrialisation comes as China expands market access for African exporters. Beginning May 1, 2026, China extended zero-tariff treatment to products from 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, including Ghana.
The policy could create new opportunities for Ghanaian businesses, but expanded access alone may not solve the country’s trade imbalance if Ghana continues to export primarily unprocessed materials.
Forson’s remarks suggest Ghana is seeking to pair greater access to the Chinese market with investments that can strengthen domestic supply chains and help local companies produce more finished goods.
At the continental level, the challenge is similarly pronounced. Trade between China and Africa reached a record $348.05 billion in 2025, but Chinese exports substantially exceeded imports from African countries, leaving the continent with a significant trade deficit.
Ghana seeks investment beyond extraction
Chinese investment is already spread across several sectors of Ghana’s economy, including mining, energy, manufacturing and construction. But as Ghana pursues broader economic transformation, officials are increasingly stressing investments that bring technology, skills and long-term industrial capacity alongside capital.
Chinese Assistant Minister for Commerce Zhang Li acknowledged Ghana’s economic recovery and expressed China’s commitment to deepening cooperation, including through industrialisation and economic transformation.
For Forson, however, the message was clear: Ghana’s future trade strategy cannot simply be about selling more raw materials abroad.
It must also be about building the factories and industries capable of turning Ghanaian resources into higher-value products — and creating sustainable jobs in the process.
Ghana’s major news outlets on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, lead with a mix of high-stakes political drama, government interventions in the mining sector, and pressing economic developments. The headlines are dominated by the escalating legal battle between Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi over extortion allegations, while President Mahama’s administration moves to rescue the struggling Adamus Resources mine and fends off scrutiny over GoldBod’s financial losses.
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