Features
When the rains come…
• Rains cause havoc in Accra every year
I live on Osabiede Street, a flood prone area of Mataheko in Accra. This area used to have a seven-year cycle of flooding. The first I experienced was on June 20, 2002. The second was June 19, 2009. I was preparing for the next one in June 2016 when June 3 happened in 2015.
Osabiede, or Kaneshie, is just one of the numerous flood prone areas of the capital and other places in this country. We all remember the fire that came with the flood at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle that took scores of lives, including my landlord’s grandnephew who found himself at Circle by default. It took us all by surprise.
Then we were told there was the need for a storm drain in front of the Accra Academy Senior High School that would solve the perennial flooding of the highway christened Dr. Busia Highway. When I visited the construction site I knew what was done was not a storm drain. I am told when President Akufo-Addo went to inaugurate the project he was mad at what he saw.
I am no engineer in hydrology, but common sense told me that would solve nothing. The next raining season saw the southern wall of Accra Academy come tumbling down. The asphalt on the stretch opposite the Kaneshie market folded up like a roll of linoleum. Osabiede Street was impassable and I could not move my car out of the driveway.
I went to the area office of the Department of Urban Roads where the Maintenance Engineer informed me that the roads in the general area of Central University had been given on contract and they would be fixed before the next rains set in. When I went to check I realised laterite had been spread on the street named after the celebrated musicologist, Dr. Ephraim Amu. Till date, the streets have remained undone and deteriorating.
I called the then Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ablekuma Central Constituency who told me it did not come under his remit. He forwarded the contact of the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) to me because, according to him, the Assembly was responsible for such things.
When the MP lost in the 2020 elections I was not surprised since the constituency had a notorious reputation of making their MPs one-term office holders.
I agree it was not his job as MP, but I wondered if he could not lobby the Assembly on our behalf. I placed a call to the MCE who picked it on the second ring. It was a woman and she agreed to meet with me at her office on a date and time.
I was at the offices of the MCE ahead of time. She was four minutes ahead of the agreed time and quickly asked her Secretary after me. Madam Mariama Marley Amui was a very comely and motherly woman. She informed me that she was appointed to the job a month or so and was new to the terrain. After conferring with her administrator, one Tagoe was summoned to her office.
Tagoe said he knew the problem of my area too well but said he had to check if it was still under the jurisdiction of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) or if it was ceded to Ablekuma Central.
I asked him to give me his contact so I could check back on him. He declined and wanted mine so he could give me an update. Over four years on Tagoe has not been in touch and, knowing how public officers behave, I have not bothered to go back to the Assembly.
The Municipal Engineer, Justice Abdoni, drove in just as I was about to leave the premises. He told me in professional terms that our area needed a huge capital inflow to fix. It turned out that the engineer was right and I gave up on trying to go round offices talking to people who knew next to nothing about drains. I mean proper drains. He said a proper drainage was needed from the area near the GRA offices at Mataheko eastwards through the Abossey Okai area into the Korle, then into the Gulf of Guinea.
A couple of months before last year’s rains I was told some people had come to our area, marking spots for what they referred to as areas to consider for expansion of the drains to forestall further flooding. I later understood they were talking about the World Bank funding the project. Knowing that the World Bank would not give out money without ensuring it was expended properly I was a little relieved.
Nothing was done and the rains came to destroy the street the more. A young entrepreneur decided to make a stretch of the street motorable, in concrete, for his delivery trucks. After about 60 metres and over a few hundreds of thousands of cedis, someone showed up claiming he was the contractor chosen to do the drains and asked the young entrepreneur to discontinue his effort and save his money. He said he would commence work in September.
September came and went and we are in February. We have not seen or heard from the man claiming to be the contractor. The street remains unmotorable save the concrete stretch. In a couple of months the rains will come again and the cycle will continue one more time.
I have already asked my compatriots up north to make the perennial floods from the spillage of water from the two dams in Burkina Faso their election issue next year. We elect and appoint people to fix our problems yet the problems remain unsolved and, in some cases, get worsened. We have engineers who should foresee issues and advise policy makers but some are either in bed with the politicians or simply do not know their job.
Without having an engineering mind I can determine that a lack of legislation on how we build our homes and offices takes flooding into consideration. There must be a law that prohibits tiling compounds of homes so that the ground can soak some of the water.
The worst case scenario must be to allow pavement blocks not to take more than 20 per cent of the compound space. Home owners must be encouraged to grow grass in their compound.
Our technocrats must push our policy makers to do the needful in the interest of the people. Until a little over a decade ago, my birthplace of Koforidua knew no flooding. Almost every home in the Eastern Regional capital is now tiled, giving rainwater little chance of being absorbed into the soil thus opening the city to annual flooding anytime it rains.
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies must make it mandatory for homeowners to build troughs to harvest rain water on their property. Many of our estate developers leave very little or no space for their grounds to take water. I wonder if common sense asks them where they think water will go whenever it rains.
Many natural disasters cannot be predicted, but measures we put in place have the potential of mitigating their devastating effects. This is what leadership is about. What happened in southeastern Turkiye and northwest Syria could not have been prevented but the number that died could have been averted if the homeowners had followed guidelines for building in earthquake zones.
How prepared are we since Accra is sitting on a tectonic plate or an earthquake fault line? Let’s not forget that the last very severe earthquake to hit Turkiye was in 1939, the very year Ghana had its most severe earthquake. Does this tell us anything? Is history about to repeat itself? We will see the dredging of our drains after the rains have started. This is our idea of preparedness.
The rainy season is not waiting for our politicians and their communicators to finish screaming at one another in the media space before it comes. Let them settle down to what Ghanaians voted for them to do. Meanwhile, how ready are our leaders when the rains come?
Writer’s email address:
akofa45@yahoo.com
By Dr. Akofa K. Segbefia
Today, I focus on the Apostolic Church International in Finland, as I continue with my description of institutions and personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland.
The Apostolic Church International, Finland (or, Apostolic International Association Ry) was established in October 9, 2023. The Church in Finland has seen significant strides and accomplishments within the short time that it has been established in Finland, which must be highlighted.
History of the Church in Ghana
The Apostolic Church Ghana originated from the 1904–1905 Welsh revival, officially established in Ghana (then called Gold Coast) in 1935 following connections between a local prayer group in Asamankese (a town in southern Ghana), led by Peter Newman Anim, and the Apostolic Church, UK. There were historical splits in 1939 and 1953, but the Apostolic Church attained autonomy in 1985.
Today, the Church is headquartered in Accra. Last year (2025), it dedicated its new 10-storey headquarters, “The Apostolic Church Tower,” in Frafraha, Adenta West in Accra.
Activities of the Apostolic Church in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland conducts church service on Sundays. The service starts at 11a.m. in the morning and closes by 1 p.m. in the afternoon. There are no other activities during other days for now.
The Minister in charge of the church in Finland is also the Area Head of Italy Area. He is Pastor Daniel Kofi Addison who is the new Italy Area Head, and has just been transferred from UK South Area to Italy Area during the just-ended Council Meeting in March this year. Italy Area comprises Italy, which has 13 Assemblies, Germany, one Assembly, and Finland, one Assembly.
Elder Ebenezer Amoaning-Coffie is the Presiding Elder in charge of the Assembly in Finland. A Presiding Elder is responsible for day to day activities of the church (Assembly) and reports to the District Pastor, or in the absence of the District Pastor, reports to the Area Head.
Achievements
The Apostolic Church International, Finland was officially registered under the Finnish Law, guaranteeing freedom of worship and providing legal foundation for future growth. The church service is conducted in both English and Twi.
The church opens its doors to all people of every nation, especially Ghanaians who are in Finland and other African nationals. Now, the membership comprises Ghanaians, Nigerians and Sierra Leoneans.
The Church and the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland plays a prominent role as a religious group that serves Ghanaian migrants and others in the Finnish society.
Thus, the Apostolic Church is a religious body for Ghanaian migrants in Finland and other nationalities who want to worship with them for diversity and better intercultural and multicultural understanding.
Elder Amoaning-Coffie said that the main and primary aim of the church is to bring people closer to God. “We aim to win souls for Christ. We aim to preach the gospel to the world. By propagating the gospel to the people, we are hopeful that they will turn away from any ungodly ways and be good individuals in the community and in society in general”, he stated.
He said that everything is going well so far. A key challenge, however, is how to get more members especially the youth. As a new Assembly, we are in need of instrumentalists, for example. We pray to God Almighty to help us do His work, the Elder disclosed.
Integration
By its activities, the Apostolic Church is helping to ensure integration of its members well into the Finish society. This is important since social interaction and citizens’ well-being are an important part of the integration process in Finland.
As I mentioned some time ago, the role of migrant associations and groups such as the Apostolic Church acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
The landscape of the Ghanaian palate is shifting, and not necessarily for the better. In our bustling urban centres, from the streets of Accra to the suburbs of Kumasi, a quiet culinary revolution is taking place; one where the mortar and pestle are being replaced by the pizza oven and the deep fryer. This transition from traditional staple foods like fufu, banku, akple, kenkey, tuo zaafi, and ampesi toward “continental” dishes is more than just a change in appetite; it is a reflection of a deeper social struggle with identity and prestige.
The illusion of modernity
For many, “stepping out” for a meal has become synonymous with consuming foreign cuisine. There is an unspoken social hierarchy where a bowl of Abunuabunu is relegated to the village category, while burgers, pizzas are branded as prestigious choices. We have reached a stage where we equate foreign with modern and local with primitive.
This perception is a dangerous illusion. Our traditional dishes are marvels of culinary engineering complex, nutrient-dense, and deeply rooted in our history. When we choose a processed foreign import over a meal made from local tubers or fermented maize, we are not just changing our lunch; we are eroding the indigenous knowledge attached to our local ingredients and foods.
We need to turn the consumption of indigenous grains and tubers like millet, sorghum, and plantain into a statement of self-worth and national pride.
The cultural and health erosion
Every time a local dish disappears from a restaurant menu to make room for foreign fast food, we lose a piece of our cultural fabric. Traditional Ghanaian cooking is an art that requires patience and skill. By choosing the convenience of foreign fast food, we are raising a generation that may know the taste of a pepperoni pizza but cannot identify the rich, earthy profile of Prekese or the subtle tang of well-fermented dough dishes like corn porridge, banku, etew, abolo, agidi or kamfa, and kenkey.
Furthermore, we are at the crossroads of a nutrition transition. Replacing high-fiber, indigenous crops with calorie-dense but nutrient-poor foreign fast foods is driving a rise in lifestyle diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and liver disease. We are trading our longevity for 15-minutes convenience or unhealthy diet.
A call for culinary patriotism
It is time for us to appreciate, preserve, and promote our indigenous foods and culinary traditions. We need to be proud of our local dishes, ingredients and cooking methods, rather than relying heavily on foreign or imported foods. We must stop viewing our local delicacies as low-class and start treating our culinary heritage as the high-end gastronomy it truly is.
True sophistication does not come from imitating Western fast food; it comes from innovation and adding values to our own resources. We see glimpses of this potential in the rise of branded Sobolo and the creative use of gluten-free plantain flour in modern baking of flour-based dishes such as bread, cakes, biscuits and others. This is the path forward. We must elevate our local dishes, making them as accessible, affordable, presentable and trendy as any foreign alternative.
To the hospitality industry: Innovate or stagnate
Our hotels and high-end restaurants must lead the charge. They must stop relegating local dishes to the “traditional corner” of the buffet, and apply the same culinary finesse given to imported dishes to our Fante Fante, apapransa, aborbi tadi, fetritoto, akple, abolo, yakayeke, fufu, ampesi, kokonte, wasawasa, tubani, apapransa, mpotompoto, kelewele, aliha, brukutu, pito, and other local dishes. The industry must enhance customer experiences making eating local dishes the ultimate luxury experience for both tourists and residents alike. We must elevate the presentation of our foods by using modern plating techniques to show that a bowl of light soup can be as visually stunning as a French consommé. We need to reclaim our Ghanaian plate before it is too late.
To the policy makers: Let us encourage buying of local ingredients to promote the local food industry and economy. There should be educational programmes and talks about the nutritional and cultural benefits of local foods so that people understand their value.
We need to encourage serving traditional dishes at school programmes, parties, and celebrations instead of only fast foods,
To the Youth: Let us value and appreciate our traditional dishes instead of always choosing foreign foods. There must be balance in our choice of local and foreign dishes. Confidence in our culture encourages others to respect it too. Our local dishes can also be promoted by sharing pictures, recipes, and videos on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp to make them attractive and trendy.
Young citizens must learn from their parents and elders how to prepare local meals to keep the knowledge and cultural relevance alive. Local dishes can be modernised to appeal to younger generations and tourists.
Conclusion
We cannot afford to trade our heritage for foreign cuisines which are gaining grounds across the country at an alarming rate. We must disabuse our minds of the perception that anything foreign or imported is better than those locally made. Our health, economy, and identity are tied to the soil. It is time to stop apologising for our local flavours and start celebrating them. It is possible to embrace modernity without losing ourselves and our cultural identity. Let us make the Ghanaian kitchen the heart of our modern identity once again.
By: Marilyn Gadogbe
