The Rains Are Not The Problem: Our Inaction Is

Two years ago, during this same rainy season, I left my office in Accra at about 7:00 p.m. after a normal day's work. Like thousands of workers who commute daily between Accra and Kasoa, I expected to be home within a reasonable time.

Instead, I arrived after 3:00 a.m. the following morning.

Hours of heavy rainfall had left major portions of the road network flooded and virtually impassable. Traffic stretched for kilometres. Vehicles crawled at a snail's pace, while thousands of commuters sat helplessly in buses, taxis and private vehicles, uncertain about when they would eventually reach home.

After barely getting a few hours of rest, I had to prepare and return to work that same morning. Many others were unable to do so. Some spent the night stranded in traffic. Others sought temporary shelter wherever they could find it. It was a frustrating, exhausting and emotionally draining experience.

Unfortunately, that experience was not an isolated incident.

For those of us who have spent years commuting between Kasoa and Accra, such experiences have become all too familiar whenever heavy rains descend on the city. The Kasoa corridor, despite its strategic importance and rapidly growing population, continues to face persistent flooding, poor drainage and severe traffic congestion whenever there is a major downpour.

The consequences extend beyond mere inconvenience.

The countless hours lost in traffic, the emotional stress, the disruption to family life and the reduced productivity at workplaces all come at a significant cost. Indeed, the situation became so unbearable that I was eventually compelled to rent accommodation in Accra and limit my visits home to weekends. While this decision has reduced the daily commuting burden, it has also imposed an additional financial burden on my household.

Sadly, my story reflects the experiences of many workers across the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.

Only a few days ago, a senior colleague and supervisor who lives within the same corridor lamented the daily ordeal he faces. According to him, he spends approximately four hours travelling to work and another four hours returning home during this rainy season.

Eight hours spent on the road every single day.

How productive can any worker realistically be after spending the equivalent of a full working day battling traffic before and after office hours?

The challenge is not peculiar to Kasoa alone.

While listening to Joy FM's Super Morning Show recently, I heard reports from motorists trapped along the Dawhenya-Tema corridor following persistent rains and deteriorating road conditions. Some drivers reportedly spent so many hours in traffic that they ran out of fuel and had to find creative ways of purchasing fuel in small quantities from roadside vendors before they could continue their journeys.

Whether it is Kasoa, Weija, Adenta, Tema, Ashaiman, Dawhenya, Kumasi or other rapidly growing urban centres, the story remains largely the same. Heavy rains expose weaknesses in drainage systems, poor road infrastructure, inadequate planning and years of neglect.

Every rainy season in Ghana seems to tell the same story.

The clouds gather. The rains descend. Roads disappear under water. Homes are inundated. Businesses shut their doors. School children are unable to reach their classrooms. Commuters spend endless hours trapped in traffic. In the worst cases, lives are lost.

For many Ghanaians, discussions about flooding inevitably bring back painful memories of June 3, 2015.

That tragedy remains one of the darkest moments in our nation's history. What began as heavy rainfall culminated in a devastating disaster that claimed hundreds of lives and left an indelible scar on the national consciousness. The scenes of destruction and human suffering remain difficult to forget.

In the aftermath, there were promises. Committees were established. Reports were written. Authorities pledged to improve drainage systems, clear waterways, strengthen disaster preparedness and enforce planning regulations.

Yet more than a decade later, many of the conditions that contributed to that tragedy continue to exist.

What makes the situation even more troubling is that many of these flood events occur despite repeated warnings from the Ghana Meteorological Agency. Year after year, weather experts issue alerts about impending heavy rainfall and possible flash floods. Yet preparation often remains inadequate, and response measures are frequently reactive rather than preventive.

In my work as a development communicator and community development advocate, I have had the privilege of engaging with residents in numerous communities across Ghana on issues relating to environmental stewardship, sanitation and sustainable development. Through these interactions, one lesson has become abundantly clear: environmental problems that are ignored today often evolve into disasters tomorrow.

Across both urban and rural communities, concerns about poor drainage, indiscriminate waste disposal, encroachment on waterways and weak enforcement of environmental regulations are repeatedly raised. Unfortunately, many of these concerns receive attention only after disaster strikes.

One of the most significant contributors to flooding in Ghana remains the uncontrolled development taking place on waterways and flood-prone lands. Natural drainage channels that once conveyed stormwater safely have been obstructed by residential and commercial developments. Wetlands that served as natural flood retention areas have disappeared under concrete structures.

When nature eventually reclaims these pathways, the consequences become painfully obvious.

Equally troubling is the persistent challenge of poor sanitation. Every rainy season reveals drains choked with plastic waste, silt and other debris. Water that should flow freely becomes trapped, causing roads and communities to flood.

Beyond the damage to property and infrastructure lies an even more tragic reality.

Almost every year, heartbreaking reports emerge of children being swept away by floodwaters while attempting to crossroads or drains. Pedestrians, traders and motorists have also lost their lives after being caught in sudden floods. Families are left devastated, often by tragedies that could have been prevented through proper planning and infrastructure development.

No parent should worry that a child may not return home because a drain overflowed after a rainfall.

No worker should have to spend eight hours every day travelling between home and the workplace because roads become impassable whenever it rains.

No family should lose its livelihood because drains were not maintained, waterways were obstructed or warnings were ignored.

Flooding in Ghana is no longer merely an environmental issue. It is an economic issue. It is a public safety issue. It is a productivity issue. Above all, it is a governance issue.

The annual floods that continue to plague our cities and communities are not entirely acts of nature. In many instances, they are the result of poor planning decisions, weak enforcement of regulations, inadequate infrastructure investment and collective neglect.

The solutions are neither mysterious nor unattainable. They include stricter enforcement against developments on waterways, significant investment in drainage infrastructure, regular desilting of drains, improved waste management systems, climate-resilient urban planning and sustained public education.

What has often been lacking is the political will and urgency required to implement these measures consistently.

As another rainy season unfolds, government, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, environmental regulators, planning authorities and citizens alike must recognize that the cost of inaction is becoming increasingly unbearable.

The memory of June 3 should not be observed through annual commemorations. It should serve as a constant reminder of the price we pay when warnings go unheeded and preventive action is delayed.

The rains will keep falling; that is certain.

The question is whether Ghana will finally summon the courage, commitment and foresight to address these perennial flooding challenges before another preventable tragedy forces us once again to ask why lessons already paid for with human lives remain unlearned.

   Comments0