Mohammed Alhassan Damba, immediate past president of the Ghana Institute of Planners, has said the country’s flooding and urban development challenges stem not from a lack of planning laws but from weak enforcement, corruption and political interference in land administration.
Damba said existing planning frameworks had already designated flood-prone areas, buffer zones and open spaces meant to absorb excess water during heavy rainfall, but these provisions were being ignored in practice.
“Planning has been done. Every flat plain has been marked, provided with the right buffer and documented,” he said on The Forum aired on Asaase Radio on Saturday (30 May).
“What is happening is that all these places have been built because traditional authorities or landowners think that every vacant space is buildable,” he stressed.
Failed institutions
Damba said that in many cases, state authorities had failed to act decisively, while some institutions had allegedly allowed development in areas reserved as natural drainage channels.
He stressed that waterways formed part of natural open spaces that must be preserved to allow water flow during rainfall, warning that their obstruction was a key driver of flooding in urban areas.
The planner cited the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), arguing that it prohibits the issuance of land titles that do not conform to approved planning schemes.
“The Lands Commission cannot give you title to lands unless it is in accordance with an approved plan for the area,” he said.
Informal actors
However, he said there were instances where individuals held titles to lands that did not conform to any approved planning scheme, raising concerns about enforcement gaps.
Damba also said local authorities had significant legal powers to enforce planning regulations but often failed to use them effectively.
He pointed to corruption, political interference and institutional weakness as key barriers to effective urban governance.
“The assemblies have a leverage, and they do not use them,” he said.
He also highlighted the influence of informal actors, including so-called land guards, whom he described as illegal groups that nevertheless play a role in land transactions and development decisions in some areas.
“I see land guards determining what roadside an area should have,” he said, adding that some developers even paid such groups for “protection” rather than complying with official planning authorities.
Damba said these challenges had undermined the rule of law in land administration and contributed directly to the recurring problem of flooding in Ghanaian cities.
Flooding remains a persistent challenge in Ghana, particularly during the rainy season, with experts frequently citing poor drainage systems, rapid urbanisation and weak enforcement of planning regulations.
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