By Emelia B. Addae
Somanya (E/R), Aug 25, GNA – Engineers in Ghana must move beyond being “passive technical implementers” and take a leading role in tackling the country’s persistent flooding crisis, research and consultancy firm SPEAR Institute LBG said in a position statement.
The institute said the recurrent flooding in Accra and other parts of the country is indicative of engineering, governance, planning and infrastructure failures that require urgent attention.
It warned that the nation cannot continue to respond only after disasters occur.
“We hold that engineers in Ghana cannot remain passive technical implementers of client briefs while the infrastructure deficit, governance failures, and planning lapses that drive flood risk continue unchecked,” SPEAR said in its statement titled “Flooding in Accra: Paddling to Safety or Avoiding a Repeat?”
The call comes after devastating floods triggered by record rainfall on June 29, 2026. According to the institute, Ghana recorded its highest monthly rainfall in history in June 2026, with 593.2 millimetres, surpassing the previous record of 420.6 millimetres set in 2002.
The resulting floods killed at least 12 people, left seven missing and displaced 7,761 households, affecting 38,802 individuals across 18 assemblies, the institute said.
SPEAR argued that while extreme rainfall contributed to the disaster, it exposed deeper structural weaknesses in the country’s flood management systems.
“The engineering profession holds a unique position of trust, technical authority, and public responsibility,” it said.
It explained that Accra’s drainage infrastructure was designed decades ago for smaller populations and less intense rainfall, creating a significant mismatch between current realities and existing systems.
“The 169.2mm rainfall recorded on June 29, 2026, exceeded the design capacity of virtually all drainage infrastructure in Accra, exposing a deeper structural limitation in the city’s flood management approach,” the statement said.
According to SPEAR, flood management has largely relied on a linear “drain-and-discharge” model that seeks to move stormwater downstream as quickly as possible.
However, the institute stated that approach was increasingly ineffective because downstream channels are often obstructed, saturated or unable to accommodate peak flows.
The institute also pointed to the loss of wetlands and floodplains that once naturally absorbed stormwater, saying these areas have increasingly been built over as urban development expands.
“Flooding in Accra should not be understood solely as a consequence of human indiscipline. Rather, it reflects a structural mismatch between the city’s current hydrological reality and an engineering system that appears to be outdated,” it said.
SPEAR called for a major shift towards climate-resilient urban water management, advocating Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, nature-based solutions and the restoration of natural water-retention areas.
“We advocate for a transition to a source-control philosophy in which rainfall is retained, infiltrated, slowed, and managed close to where it falls, through Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), nature-based solutions, and the restoration of natural retention capacity,” the statement said.
The institute stated that such a transition would require changes to design standards, planning regulations, procurement practices and the way drainage infrastructure is financed and valued.
Beyond engineering design, SPEAR said project execution and maintenance also remain major concerns.
It noted that drainage and flood-control projects are frequently left unfinished or handed over without maintenance plans, budgets or performance monitoring mechanisms.
“Projects are declared delivered, flood risk reduction is assumed rather than measured,” it added.
SPEAR pledged to push for higher professional standards within the engineering sector and to advocate engineering-led solutions to Ghana’s flood challenges.
“Our firm commits to holding itself, its peers, and its clients to the highest professional standards and to using every professional and public forum available to us to advocate for engineering-led flood resilience solutions,” it said.
The institute said meaningful progress would require collaboration among engineers, government, academia, civil society, the private sector and affected communities.
“We hold that technically excellent flood risk management cannot be delivered from the top down alone,” it said.
“The communities that bear the greatest burden of flood risk must be engaged, not bypassed, in the design and implementation of flood management solutions.”
Warning against returning to business as usual after the latest floods, SPEAR stated, Ghana already knows what needs to be done.
“Rainfall is not the problem; it is the consequence of what we build, what we enforce, what we collect, and what we choose to fund only after the damage is done,” the institute said.
“Ghana is not short of answers. It is short of the will to act on them before the water arrives.”
GNA
Edited by D.I. Laary
Reporter: Emelia B. Addae
Email: [email protected]