While some Ghanaians are yet to recover from shock and outrage after Saturday’s torrential rains ripped through their homes causing havoc, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a staunch member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has shared a throwback photo of a newspaper that documented how the nation’s capital got flooded over six decades ago.
Captioned ‘Around this time in 1960 in Accra’, Gabby’s post, shared on May 22, 2022, has elicited reactions from some Ghanaians, including actress, Lydia Forson who is puzzled over the rationale behind the tweet.
“Gabby, please what’s the point of this throw back?” Lydia Forson asked as she listed possible answers. “1. That people have been dying since? 2. It’s a problem that can’t be fixed? 3. Politicians make empty promises (ie fast trains) or what exactly?”
Some have opined that Gabby’s statement smacks of hypocrisy as they deem his post as an attempt to defend his government when he has on a number of occasions criticised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for failing to deal with floods when the party was in government.
Backing their arguments with proof, tweeps have dug for tweets Gabby made to castigate the NDC when parts of the country were flooded during their era.
Meanwhile, the government has said it has spent GH¢450 million towards addressing flooding in the country in the last five years.
“What we’ve done is to provide some remedial measures, and that is to mitigate the effects of the huge running water. In the last five years, the government has spent GH¢450 million to invest in the expansion of the drains including digging deep and concrete lining and that is to increase the drain capacity to carry more stormwater…
“There are some causes of flooding; indiscriminate dumping of solid waste in our drains and the haphazard development of our communities [which must be checked]. Those buildings in unauthorized places should be removed,” Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye reportedly said during a tour of some areas in Accra following Saturday night’s downpour.
The rains obstructed traffic flow on some major roads in the capital. Some people were also rendered homeless as their homes got flooded.
