Finance Ministry fiscal controls stalled GARID flood project — Asenso Boakye
Former Minister for Works and Housing Francis Asenso-Boakye has accused the Ministry of Finance of delaying the implementation of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project.
He noted that the setbacks have slowed critical flood control works despite the project being fully financed.
His comments follow the devastating floods that hit parts of Accra on Monday, June 29, claiming lives and destroying property.
In a social media post on Thursday, July 2, the Bantama MP cited a recent World Bank implementation assessment, arguing that fiscal controls introduced in 2025 had disrupted cash flows, delayed payments to contractors and stalled the execution of several components of the flagship flood prevention programme.
The World Bank recently downgraded GARID's implementation performance to "Moderately Unsatisfactory," attributing the slowdown to fiscal measures that affected contractor payments despite the project remaining fully financed.
"According to both the World Bank and the current project status, the Odaw dredging and Achimota-Abofu Drain works have slowed because contractors have not been paid. The Dr. Busia Highway Drain project is on hold. The Nima–Paloma–Odawna Drain project has stalled after the contractor abandoned site," Mr. Asenso-Boakye wrote.
The former minister further noted that the previous Akufo-Addo administration had moved beyond planning by securing World Bank financing, completing engineering designs, awarding contracts and commencing implementation of what he described as Ghana's most comprehensive flood control programme.
He listed projects that had either commenced or reached advanced stages before the change in government, including the performance-based dredging of the Odaw River, the Achimota-Abofu Drain, the South Kaneshie Drain, the Dr. Busia Highway Drain and the Nima-Paloma-Odawna Drain improvement works.
He also said the Accra Flood Early Warning System had been procured and installed, while designs for the Atomic East and West Detention Ponds had been completed and were ready for procurement before the transition.
The Bank's implementation report noted that government had allocated only part of the project's required funding for 2026 and that requests for commitment authorisations for major civil works remained pending.
"At a time when lives continue to be lost to flooding, the priority should not be political rhetoric but the urgent completion of the critical flood control projects that were initiated under the NPP. Every rainy season lost to delays places more Ghanaian lives and property at risk," Asenso Boakye stated.
The GARID Project is a World Bank-supported programme aimed at improving flood risk management, solid waste management and urban resilience across the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.