As the country races against time in finding a lasting solution to the flooding situation, Road and Building Consultant, Ing. Abdulai Mahama, says the recurring flooding in Accra is not merely a failure of drainage infrastructure but a deeper environmental governance challenge rooted in the systematic loss of wetlands and natural water retention systems.
Ing. Abdulai Mahama warns that even the most expanded and well-maintained drains will fail if natural buffers continue to be taken over by encroachers for physical infrastructure
Speaking in an interview with The High Street Journal, he explained that Accra’s flooding crisis is being worsened by unchecked development on wetlands and valleys that once served as natural storage and conveyance systems for stormwater.
“These retention points are not man-made. They are natural buffers that were created before the existence of man. God created the mountains, the valleys, so that when it rains, the run-off will flow and be collected in these areas,” he explained.
Natural Buffers Being Lost to Development
According to him, the city originally had a network of “retention ponds”, which are naturally occurring valleys, wetlands, and low-lying basins that absorbed excess rainfall and slowed runoff into drainage channels.
He noted that many of these areas have now been encroached upon by buildings, warehouses, and factories, particularly along key flood-prone corridors such as Abokobi through Dome to Christian Village, and the Ayimensa–Danfa–Ayarifa stretch to the east of the capital. There are very visible structures around Malam junction, McCarty Hills, Weija area, which are all sitting on made-up grounds that initially were covered with Mangroves
He stressed that their disappearance is directly increasing surface runoff into residential communities.
How Encroachment Is Shifting Flood Patterns
Ing. Mahama pointed to areas such as Adentan, Lakeside Estate, School Junction, a section between Haatso Funeral Home and Atomic Police Station, just to mention a few, as emerging flood hotspots, arguing that their vulnerability is not accidental but the result of disrupted water pathways.
He explained that when wetlands and valleys are filled, water that would naturally spread and settle is instead forced into narrower channels and urban streets, overwhelming drainage systems during heavy rainfall.
In his view, this is why communities continue to experience flooding despite periodic dredging and expansion of storm drains.
The Limits of Drainage-Only Solutions
While acknowledging ongoing interventions like drainage expansion and desilting projects, he cautioned that infrastructure alone cannot solve the problem.
Using a conceptual illustration, he described a scenario where engineered drains capture only part of total runoff, while the remainder, previously absorbed by wetlands, retention ponds, small lakes and streams, is forced onto the surface.
He explained that routine desilting of drains is part of the mitigating measures, which is supposed to be augmented by some of these wastelands and then retention ponds.”
“But the more you try to even desilt, which is okay, but you are filling the retention ponds, you may not be able to address the situation properly. Let me just put it hypothetically that the runoff per year is, say, 100 million cubic meters of water. If the GARID project is designed to contain about, let’s say, 40 million cubic meters of water and then the retention ponds dotted across the capital also contain about 40 million cubic meters of water, the rest of the 20 million cubic meters that would have inundated our surroundings would have been bearable. That means the surface water wouldn’t be swallowing the communities
The design of these storm drains was to empty the runoff into the oceans gradually through these Ramsar sites, mangroves, and the rest. So if these areas mentioned are being developed recklessly, then your guess is as good as mine.
A Call for Integrated Water Management
Ing. Mahama’s position is that flood management must go beyond engineering works and embrace land-use discipline. He emphasized a dual approach of strengthening drainage infrastructure while simultaneously protecting and restoring wetlands and natural retention ponds.
Without this balance, he warned, Accra risks continuing on a cycle of expensive infrastructure upgrades that deliver limited long-term relief.
“Because we are overlooking the wetland being encroached and river, stream and lake buffers, no matter how many times we expand our drainage, our storm drains, it may not be able to solve the problem. You may not drastically reduce the water inundation at the surface of the earth,” he emphasized.
For him, the drains are necessary, but not sufficient. As Accra expands, the survival of its flood resilience depends not only on what is built beneath the surface, but also on what is preserved above it.
