Accra Floods: Buck stops with leadership - Mahama Ayariga

The Minister For Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation have conceded that political leadership has to bear blame arising from the unfortunate floods that claimed lives and destroyed properties days ago.

According to him, "The buck will always stop at political leadership and we have to be honest to admit that many people who have been responsible for managing cities have not done their jobs," he added that, "...in a sense also, when apportioning blame, you will be right to place responsibility at the doorstep of political leadership."

The Minister was speaking on the "The Big Issues", a weekly news analysis program on Citi fm, an Accra-based radio station. He bemoaned how plans to arrest flooding in Accra goes as far back into the 1960s through to the 70s, 80s and 90s.

"It's been over decades as I can show you, in 1963 there was a strategic plan hardly implemented, in the 70s there were plans hardly implemented (and) in 1991, this strategic document was hardly implemented," he stated.

Asked what would have failed Ghana on the issue of flooding over the years, Mr. Ayariga said the political system, the local government authorities, the administrative class, the technical group of civil servants and engineers in his words "have all not done what we (they) out to have done."

He also cited land owners who sell lands and the people who go ahead to build on waterways leading to floods.

The floods have claimed lives and loss of properties. It was made worse by an explosion at a GOIL filling station at Kwame Nkrumah Circle.