Former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has blamed Ghana’s recurring flooding challenges on what he describes as years of institutional neglect and poor enforcement of land use regulations.

Speaking at the 14th Commemorative Lecture in honour of former President John Evans Atta Mills on Wednesday, July 22, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said the floods that affected parts of the Greater Accra Region in late June exposed deeper failures beyond public attitudes towards waste disposal.

According to him, while calls for residents to stop dumping waste into gutters and drains are necessary, they do not address the broader systemic challenges contributing to flooding.

"The floods that struck Greater Accra in the last week of June and the first week of July this year are a distressing illustration of the same institutional neglect," he said.

"As the waters rose, I listened to politicians and opinion leaders urge residents not to dump waste into gutters and drains. This advice is well intended but evades a deeper truth."

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng argued that Ghana lacks a comprehensive waste management system capable of collecting waste from communities and directing it towards proper disposal, recycling, or energy generation facilities.

He also raised concerns about the continued encroachment on areas designated for flood management and water retention.

"Ghana's own land use planning framework classifies certain areas as flood-prone and reserves them as protected open space.

"Yet, across Greater Accra, all the seven planned flood retention points in Papao, Madina, Ashiyie, Adjiringanor, two in Ashaley Botwe, University Farms, and Ashaiman have all been encroached upon," he stated.

The former minister said waterway buffers and protected areas have also been overtaken by informal developments, despite the existence of institutions mandated to protect such spaces.

He cited developments within Ramsar-protected wetlands as examples of what he described as failures in environmental governance.

"On the western edge of Accra is a cement factory built in a Ramsar-protected wetland. The factory was sanctioned by the MP, the Chiefs, MMDCE, residents, and the seat of government itself because it was classified as part of 1D1F in the Ramsar wetland," he said.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng warned that failure to enforce environmental regulations undermines Ghana’s ability to pursue long-term national development goals.

"A nation that cannot summon the discipline to manage its waste and protect its wetlands cannot, by any stretch of imagination, undertake the disciplined, sustained project of national development that Professor Mills envisioned," he said.