When heavy rains hit Accra today, many residents once again found themselves counting their losses. Floodwaters swallowed roads, homes and businesses in several parts of the capital, reviving painful questions about why flooding continues to haunt the city despite years of interventions and public spending. Former Greater Accra Regional Minister Henry Quartey believes the answer is not difficult to find.
Mr Quartey has defended the controversial relocation of onion traders from Agbogbloshie during the Akufo-Addo administration, insisting that the exercise produced measurable results before subsequent decisions weakened its impact. According to him, the return of trading activities to Agbogbloshie has contributed to the renewed flooding affecting several communities across the capital.
In a strongly worded statement, the former minister recalled that, while serving as Greater Accra Regional Minister and Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), he led what he described as a historic operation to relocate onion traders from Agbogbloshie to Adjen Kotoku and Dominase. The operation, he said, was undertaken with the support of the National Security apparatus and the full backing of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Mr Quartey explained that the relocation was never an isolated market exercise. Rather, it formed part of a broader strategy to restore order within the city, reclaim critical waterways, improve drainage systems and reduce the perennial flooding that had affected large sections of Accra for decades.
According to him, the intervention brought noticeable improvements. He pointed to communities stretching from Airport Residential and Dzorwulu through Alajo and the Odaw River basin to Awudome, State Transport, Rana Motors, Pepsi Cola and nearby areas, arguing that these locations experienced a significant reduction in flooding after the onion traders were moved from Agbogbloshie.
He maintained that the results demonstrated what could be achieved when political leaders took difficult decisions in the national interest and followed them with firm enforcement.
However, Mr Quartey argued that the gains were gradually reversed after the change in government. He claimed that enforcement of the relocation exercise was relaxed, allowing traders to return to Agbogbloshie. In his assessment, political considerations played a role in that decision, with consequences that have become increasingly evident whenever heavy rains fall over the capital.
The former minister also urged policymakers to rethink the way flooding is treated in Ghana. In his view, the issue should no longer be seen simply as an environmental challenge or a seasonal occurrence. Instead, he argued that flooding has become a national security concern because of its recurring impact on lives, property, businesses and public health.
He noted that every major flooding incident carries enormous human and economic costs. Beyond the destruction of homes and infrastructure, floods displace families, interrupt commercial activity and expose affected communities to disease outbreaks, all of which place additional pressure on the state.
For that reason, Mr Quartey called for stronger enforcement of planning regulations across the country. He argued that authorities must protect waterways and floodplains, remove unauthorised structures obstructing drainage channels and relocate activities that prevent the free movement of stormwater.
According to him, such decisions may not always be politically popular, but they remain necessary if Ghana is to build resilient communities capable of withstanding increasingly severe rainfall.
Mr Quartey further stated that he consistently explained the reasoning behind the Agbogbloshie relocation during several media interviews while he was in office. He encouraged journalists and the public to revisit those interviews, saying they provide important context to the policy decisions taken during his tenure and the warnings he repeatedly issued about the consequences of reversing them.
His comments are likely to rekindle debate over one of the most contentious urban redevelopment exercises undertaken under the New Patriotic Party administration. While critics of the relocation questioned aspects of its implementation and its impact on affected traders, supporters maintained that restoring order around the Odaw basin was essential to tackling Accra’s persistent flooding challenge.
As the capital continues to grapple with destructive floods after intense rainfall, Mr Quartey’s intervention has once again brought the difficult balance between enforcement, urban planning and political decision making into sharp focus. Whether his warning influences future policy remains to be seen, but it adds fresh momentum to the national conversation on how Ghana can finally confront a problem that has claimed lives and destroyed livelihoods for decades.
