Flooding in Accra: Over 30 Years of Doing Nothing

In July 1995, I was a student at the University of Ghana. One of my course mates and personal friend lived at Odawna, Adabraka (not too far from the Odaw ‘river’). I remember it was a vacation but I was still on campus as I didn’t want to travel back to my home town in the Ashanti Region during that vacation. Long story short, that was the first time I recall Accra faced a serious flooding since I had been living in the city.

I visited my friend the following morning and witnessed the damage and mess to the ground floor of their home. Thankfully, they escaped to the first floor when the ground floor started taking in flood water. But, looking through her window during the peak of the flooding, my friend witnessed a man drowning – yes, the neighbours found his dead body later that morning.

When I started my National Service / Internship in 1997/98, I rented a room at Laterbiokorshie, on the first floor of a story building. Again, in the rainy season in 1998, there was a massive flooding one day. The whole area was flooded and I couldn’t even come downstairs for over 24 hours, not to talk about going to work.

That was when I told myself I would never again live anywhere near a low-lying area in Accra. Not that I didn’t think at the time that the Government of Ghana was incapable of addressing the flooding problem in Accra: I just made a decision based on personal experience.

Decades since then, my decision has been vindicated. We’ve had piss-poor governments that have achieved zero in addressing Accra’s flooding problems. Not even the deaths of over 150 citizens over a decade ago on 3 June 2015 has changed anything.

Fellow citizens, know this and know peace: you are on your own. Make decisions that are best for you and your family. The political elite will only act if they and their friends and family are directly affected. As things stand now, they have made themselves comfortable, making money off the back of the country through contracts and corruption. Take your destiny into your own hands. Regardless of who comes to power – NDC or NPP – nothing will change. Not with the bunch that are currently within their leadership and ranks.

I’ve shared my personal experience above for the first time, not because I want to, but because I need to.

Be safe!

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)