Weak enforcement of building regulations worsening floods — Mustapha Gbande

A Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has blamed Ghana's recurring flooding problem on years of weak enforcement of planning and building regulations.

Several parts of the country experience flooding during the rainy season, leaving many people dead, displacing families and destroying properties.

The situation recurs almost every year, particularly in urban centres, whenever heavy rains occur.

Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews' AM Show on Monday, June 8, Gbande said the country should not have reached its current state if authorities had effectively enforced existing regulations.

"As a country, I personally hold the view that we shouldn't have been in this position at all. As a country, we should not have been here, but we are here partly because our local governance system, in terms of structure and enforcement, has been very weak over the years," he said.

According to him, poor coordination between government agencies and landowners has contributed significantly to the problem, with some landowners selling lands reserved for roads, waterways and other restricted purposes to developers.

The NDC stalwart recalled accompanying President John Dramani Mahama on an inspection tour of flood-prone areas during his first term in office, where they discovered that several waterways and Ramsar sites had already been encroached upon.

He noted that attempts to reverse such developments often face resistance once structures have been erected and people have settled in those areas.

"Once somebody goes and develops illegally at a place where he is not supposed to develop, the status of the problem changes from a mere encroachment of a restricted area to a human security problem," he stated.

The NDC official stressed that addressing the flooding challenge would require stronger enforcement of planning regulations, protection of waterways and greater cooperation between traditional landowners, local authorities and central government.