Who should be held responsible for the June floods in the Greater Accra Region?

Ghana is not where the United States is today in terms of institutional development. In many respects, our local governance and land administration systems are still evolving. That reality should shape how we assign responsibility.

How do decades of decisions by the Lands Commission, Town and Country Planning, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), and successive Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) suddenly become the sole responsibility of a Member of Parliament?

An MP legislates, approves budgets, and provides oversight. An MP is not the planning authority, the development control officer, or the agency responsible for enforcing zoning regulations and issuing building permits. While MPs have a role in advocacy and oversight, they cannot be expected to single-handedly reverse years of weak enforcement, poor spatial planning, or institutional failures.

This is not a defence of underperforming legislators. It is a call for constitutional and civic clarity.

Our democracy will mature when citizens demand accountability from the right institutions for the right responsibilities. Flooding, unplanned settlements, and chaotic urban development are governance failures that require coordinated action across multiple state institutions—not the scapegoating of one elected official.

"A nation begins to solve its problems when it learns to hold the right institutions accountable for the responsibilities they were created to perform."

Bismarck Kwesi Davis | bismarckinspires| bismarckdavis@gmail.com | 0244677888

Author, Resetting Ghana Series
Greater Accra Regional Deputy Organiser ● Hopeful

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