On Accra Flooding: For Once, Let Your 'Yes' Be 'Yes'!

It is apodictically incumbent on the current government to devise solutions to the panorama of problems confronting the country. As such, it is unsurprising that Honourable Atta Akyea, the Minister of Works and Housing has promised to deal with the flooding problem in Accra by demolishing all buildings that will be found to be causing the perennial canker (See: I'll Demolish Houses to Fix Accra Flooding - Atta Akyea, modernghana.com/starrfm: 27th February, 2017).

An incontrovertible fact, it is, that flooding is one of the atavistic nemeses of Accra, Ghana's capital. As a result, each time the name of the city is mentioned, there is a 95% chance that "flooding" will follow. Fortunately, the cause has been found to be the presence of buildings on water ways. Yet, our ability to come out with the cause has been worthless, as our politicians have not been able to solve it, although they have promised us on several occasions to do so, in the last couple of years.

Against this backdrop, the statement by the Minister was predictable, because the rains have started, with its unpalatable effects sweeping through some areas in the nation's capital. For some of us, the umpteenth regurgitation of the intention to curb the flooding, executed persistently and consistently with the on-set of the Accra rains, gets our ears begging to be spared the torture.

However, what is significant is that Minister Atta Akyea has indicated his unfettered intention of targeting and demolishing all the houses and structures found to be inimical to the drainage system of our capital. He has indicated again the amount required to do it and countries that are willing to help us salvage it, as well as the need to identify how best to wire the money into the country. It would, however, be expedient to sharpen all rough edges on the exercise and get it started straight away. Securing the requisite funding and getting all the necessary parties ready for action as legitimacy demands, whilst eschewing all forms of laxity and favouritism about it. That is if he is really serious about expeditiously salvaging the situation beyond the accustomed vacuous lip service remunerated by our politicians, demonstrated through pulling down a couple of houses that "cause massive damage to the mass of the people" in areas such as, among others, Asylum Down, Avenor, Alajo, Circle and Mallam Junction.

As far as I can historically ascertain, the remuneration of the accustomed lip service has been with us since time immemorial. Politicians and their supporters paid undue attention to the flooding, plunging them into ignoble daydreams and execrable notions, forgetting the fact that trumpeting one's intention is totally different from the execution of the action. Trumpeting it is only a demonstration of one's consciousness of the problem, a far cry from its eradication. Therefore, all those in such areas who have their hearts in their mouths each time it threatens to rain, those who wring their hands in momentous anguish on account of their inability to move in and out of their abodes as a result of the flooding and those who have needlessly lost their friends/relatives must exhibit obdurate bereavement towards the canker, during and after the rainy season, before the unaffected can also offer their help. That is the only way we can prevent politicians from indulging in mere rhetorical platitudes and zooming into action for the sake of the welfare of those dwelling in such areas.

Nevertheless, it is a shame that some of us have adopted the cynical attitude of because we cannot beat them, it is flamboyantly wise to join them. We, therefore, refuse to criticise politicians when they fail to live up to their responsibilities. Others have also cultivated the virulent habit of "we voted for them so we will not criticise them". That is an aberrant betrayal of civil values and a complete affront to nation-building. The high number of people who lose their breadwinners, the high number of school drop-outs, its calamitous effects on people's businesses, the colossal amounts of money spent by the government on the victims and the overall apocalyptic effect on the ailing and malevolent economy of our country need to continually ring in our ears.

The implication is that we should do everything creatively and humanly possible for Minister Atta Akyea to fulfil the promise, after all, it is unpredictable when and where the next flooding or explosion, God forbid, will occur. It should not be one of those promises that never get fulfilled. Foxiness in connection with the development of Ghana includes being sceptical about political promises - of demolishing buildings - that are never fulfilled because politicians are scared of losing votes. We must use our past experiences creatively and flee from the menacing tendency of turning into a bunch of proverbial vultures who wallow in self-subterfuge, remembering to find shelter only when it is raining and pathetically and immitigably forget as soon as the rains stop.

Kwabena Aboagye-Gyan
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