Ghana must change how it manages its rivers and stop treating natural waterways as gutters, Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policies Research (INSTEPR), Kwadwo Poku, has said.

He said widespread encroachment and construction around river channels were reducing the natural space available for waterways to carry water, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall.

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews with Emefa Adair, Mr Poku said Ghana must recognise rivers as natural water bodies and protect their courses from further encroachment.

“We are the only country where we keep treating rivers as gutters. We should stop,” he said.

He cited the Oti River, which passes through the Hohoe Municipality, as an example of how encroachment can alter the size and character of a natural waterway.

According to him, sections of the river have been encroached upon, effectively reducing the space through which water can flow.

“When you go there now, you realise that the size of the river at certain points would have been encroached on and more or less turned into a gutter,” he said.

Mr Poku explained that restricting a river’s natural channel does not prevent water from following its course when rainfall increases.

“River and water will always find its way. So the amount of space we need for that natural body to go, it’s no longer there,” he said.

He also cited the East Lagoon area around the American School, where he said structures had been built around a natural waterway, altering its appearance and reducing it to something resembling a gutter.

‘We must learn to live with our waterways’

Mr Poku said Ghana should instead adopt an approach that allows communities and urban developments to coexist with natural waterways.

He pointed to Amsterdam as an example of a city that has embraced its natural water systems and incorporated them into its development.

“Amsterdam, they’ve embraced what they have. They’ve treated it as it is and they’ve actually lived with it,” he said.

He urged authorities to identify and properly map Ghana’s rivers and protect their natural courses before further development makes encroachment more difficult to reverse.

“We should really make an effort to identify all our rivers before these things happen,” he said.

His comments come amid recurring concerns over flooding and the management of waterways in Ghana, including the conversion of natural channels into drainage-like structures.

JoyNews has previously reported Mr Poku arguing that the Odaw River in Accra has also effectively been turned into a gutter, highlighting concerns about how urban development has altered the city’s natural waterways.w