The Minority in Parliament has called for a full parliamentary investigation into the government’s flood preparedness task force, arguing that its failure to implement meaningful interventions contributed to the devastating floods that hit parts of Accra on Monday, June 29.
Addressing the media in Parliament on Tuesday, June 30, the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the flooding exposed what he described as the ineffectiveness of the anti-flood task force announced by President John Dramani Mahama in 2025 to prepare the capital for the rainy season.
According to him, the task force, chaired by the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations, Stan Dogbe, existed “on paper and paper alone” and failed to deliver tangible flood mitigation measures.
“Yesterday’s flooding is the clearest evidence that this task force produced no meaningful intervention on the ground. If serious drainage works, desilting or flood mitigation infrastructure had been undertaken, the impact of the rains, however heavy, would have been measurably reduced,” he said.
The Effutu Legislator argued that entire communities were submerged despite the establishment of the task force, describing the situation as evidence of a widening gap between government promises and actual delivery.
“Instead, entire neighbourhoods went under water, exposing the gap between government rhetoric and government delivery. Now, we see a pattern, not an accident,” he added.
The Minority is therefore calling on Parliament to establish a special committee to investigate the activities of the flood preparedness task force and the relevant ministries and agencies responsible for disaster prevention.
According to the Minority Leader, the inquiry should determine what work, if any, the task force undertook since its establishment, the amount of public funds allocated to it and how those funds were utilised.
He further said the investigation should examine the flood mitigation measures that were planned and implemented, and why they failed to prevent or significantly reduce the impact of what he described as foreseeable seasonal flooding.
The Minority also called for those found to have been negligent or derelict in their duties to be held accountable.
“That inquiry must establish what work if any the task force undertook since its establishment. What funds were allocated to it and how they were spent. What specific mitigation measures were planned and implemented and why none of these prevented or meaningfully reduce the impact of foreseeable seasonal flooding.
“Those found responsible for negligence or dereliction of duty must be held accountable,” he stated.
Pending the outcome of the proposed investigation, the Minority demanded that all members of the flood preparedness task force step aside from their positions to allow for an independent inquiry.
“This is not a presumption of guilt. It is a basic standard of accountability that any institution facing serious questions over its conduct should observe so that the investigation can proceed without interference,” the Minority Leader stated.
The call comes in the aftermath of Monday’s floods, which claimed lives, displaced thousands of residents and caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructure across the Greater Accra Region.
Source: 3news.com
