The floods in Ghana have taken centre stage in the last week and a half. Torrential rainfall is flooding homes and offices and destroying livelihoods and property
According to news reports, these floods in Ghana have claimed 13 lives as of last count
According to the Ghanaian fire service, they have rescued more than 470 persons and will continue to do so in their work. Reuters reports, quoting President John Mahama of Ghana, show that 140 millimetres of rain had fallen on Accra, according to preliminary data, the highest rainfall recorded in years
The president said that the highest single-day rainfall recorded in 2025 was 56 millimetres. The flood is said to be driven by climate change, unauthorised construction on waterways and inadequate urban planning, routinely cited as worsening the impact of heavy rains
The Ghanaian president has not only ordered the deployment of Ghana’s armed forces and police personnel to support the National Disaster Management Organisation and other security services in rescue and relief operations across Accra but has also released 300 million cedis, about 27 million dollars, for flood relief efforts
The Ivory Coast is also suffering challenges, and Lagos, Nigeria, is facing difficulty in movement and daily living due to torrential floods
As I watched an Instagram post of President Mahama inspecting flood-ridden areas, sitting in a helicopter to assess the damage, and saw satellite images of the affected areas, I was amazed at how the Accra I was in for all of five days a week and a half ago for a family wedding had changed. Awesome God!
Although we had some rains, Accra seemed peaceful and beautiful as ever, with nothing to indicate this level of rainfall and even deaths
We had gone for dinner at a lovely event centre in Legon, and Ghanaians were still celebrating the Black Stars’ win over Panama in the World Cup
The day after, we sat in a gathering of both families to watch a culture quite similar to ours in Nigeria as family spokespersons on either side of the aisle titillated us all with bedazzling gift-giving and tongue-in-cheek stories
A brother was taking a Ghanaian wife, and it was beautiful. The reception afterwards gave a good variety of both Nigerian and Ghanaian food; of course, the Nigerian side had turned up in full headgear and arm candy, Aso-oke and Aso-ebi, to support the mother of the groom
In between, my spouse and I went sightseeing and window-shopping. We lunched out, slept in, took a mini-holiday and made new friends. We also visited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Museum. Gorgeous!! (Story for another day) It was not my first time in Accra, perhaps my fourth or thereabouts over a couple of years. From the last time I went, Accra has leapfrogged in infrastructural development, with new and postmodern architecture dotting the Accra skyline. Beautiful houses, a truly clean city. I spent most of the time complimenting Ghanaians on how clean Accra was and how welcoming they were, although I found some of their roads pretty narrow.
Food-wise, although I missed Amala, I still managed to have banku and tilapia and enjoyed a truly decadent set of chicken wings at our hotel. The food was really good. The Jollof rice was not to be discussed; although our acquaintances tried, my husband was not having any of it. What is jollof rice? He would say. “I don’t see even the need to discuss it,” to which all would fall about laughing
At a shopping mall, a white lady compounded the jollof issue by saying that while she lives in Ghana and has had Ghanaian jollof rice, the Nigerian jollof was certainly better. The Ghanaian shop attendants were ready to throw her out (laughter). Food was great, and the crafts market presented quite a variety of hand fans and bespoke Kente and interesting fabrics. It was a lovely mini holiday
As soon as I returned home, within weeks Accra had changed; it was flooded, with about 38,800 displaced people, 7,761 households affected and many livelihoods destroyed, according to the Ghanaian interior minister. 13 people died from floods in Accra. As if I had not just returned. Truly unbelievable!
My heart goes out to all those affected. May it get better. Amen
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