Former Sekondi Member of Parliament, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has described the June 29 floods as a clear demonstration of the Mahama administration’s incompetence, accusing the government of failing to implement measures it had promised to prevent the annual disaster.

The June 29 floods left at least 12 people dead in Accra, destroyed homes, submerged roads, displaced residents and caused millions of cedis in losses to businesses after hours of heavy rainfall.

Before returning to office, then-candidate Mahama had criticised the previous administration over flooding and pledged stronger flood prevention measures, including engineering interventions and the establishment of an anti-flood task force.

Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, July 11, the former lawmaker argued that the government had failed to match its promises with action.

“This incident of 29 June is a clear case of blatant incompetence. They knew this problem, they made commitments in their manifesto, they launched an anti-flood task force, and the expectation of Ghanaians was that the preparatory work would be done before the rains came,” he stated.

He questioned why the government failed to organise a nationwide clean-up exercise or desilt drains before the onset of the rainy season, despite knowing the risks.

Egyapa Mercer also accused President Mahama of contradicting his previous position on the causes of flooding, recalling that the President had blamed the previous government for flood disasters while in opposition.

“If we were serious, why didn’t we organise this national clean-up exercise in April or May before the rainy season? We sat, looked on while people died and businesses suffered losses, only to embark on what I consider a charade afterwards,” said the former lawmaker.

According to Egyapa Mercer, the government’s reactive approach has done little to address Ghana’s perennial flooding problem and warned that similar disasters would continue if meaningful preventive measures are not implemented.

He further argued that unless government acknowledges its shortcomings and adopts practical long-term solutions, the country will continue to experience the same cycle of destruction during every major rainy season.