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Angered by suggestions that ordinary Ghanaians have to share some of the blame for the floods which claimed the lives of scores of Ghanaians on Wednesday, anti-corruption campaigner, Sydney Casely-Hayford has stated that government must take sole responsibility.

About 150 people lost their lives in the floods which ravaged the capital Accra on Wednesday and in the fire which razed the GOIL fuel station to the ground – including people who had sought cover from the downpour.


Accusatory fingers have been pointed at several institutions, including government and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) for failing to manage the perennial flooding of the city. 

Several other people have suggested that the citizens have a hand in the city’s flooding problems as well as a result of constant littering and the building of illegal structures on waterways.

However, according to Casely-Haford, Ghanaians elected their leaders based on promises that such problems would be fixed and disasters like Wednesday’s would be prevented and managed and those leaders should be held fully accountable.

“I am sad that we should be faced with the logic that we are all responsible and we should all accept blame for what goes on in this country. I am not responsible for this neither is anybody who is not directly involved in managing the affairs of this country. The reason why we elect people is based on a manifesto which they give us in order for them to able to come and fix the problems…

“I don’t care whether the problems have been there since 1963, 1971, 1991 or whenever, I don’t really care. I care that the persons in authority today, people who are managing our institutions are responsible for fixing the problems we have, whether they created it or inherited it,” Casely Hayford argued.

Casely-Hayford added that it is unacceptable for government officials to try and shift blame onto the citizens given the fact that they are paid to find solutions to the problems.

“They [government] are responsible. This is why we put them there, this is why we pay them. Nobody pays me to live as a citizen in this country. I pay my taxes, the ministers collect my taxes, ride in a cars, sit in an air-conditioned offices and have privileges of state that I do not have. It is their responsibility to ensure that we fix these problems and I and Occupy Ghana are not going to accept from anybody under any circumstance that we the people of this country should also shoulder the responsibility for fixing the problems that somebody else is being paid to fix” he said.



‘If drains are open, people will throw waste in them’


The anti-corruption crusader stated that the government’s failure to provide certain amenities to citizens is responsible for certain actions which may have contributed to some of the country’s issues

According to him, littering and the dumping of waste by residents was only a result of the government’s negligence of its responsibilities to Ghanaians who have had to find other ways to ensure that their needs are met.

“When you build roads and you have open gutter systems by the sides of the roads and you do not think people will throw waste into those gutters because they are open, you are an idiot. It will happen because that is what people will do in a working day. Take anybody who sits by the wayside cleaning, the residue will end up in the nearest open drain. If you do not give them the mechanisms to to be able to guide and control how they manage waste, they will continue to do they think is most feasible.

“f you do not have public toilets where people can go and ease themselves, you are responsible for it. It is not for citizens to build public toilets. It is government’s  responsibility. If you build roads and they are potholed and no attempt is  made to patch them and accidents occur as a result, it is not the responsibility of the citizens,” he said.



 ‘Needless loss of lives’ 

Sydney Casely-Hayford described the incident on Wednesday as one of the saddest in the nation’s history and lamented over the ‘needless’ loss of so many lives in the fire and floods.

“I can’t remember that we have had such a sad moment in our history. We have had floods and we have had other catastrophes, people have died consequently but I think this is more exacerbated because it could have been prevented,” Casely-Hayford said.

“We have needlessly lost  150 plus lives just simply because of negligence and a failure of those in authority who should have done their job and didn’t do so. My heart goes out to families who have lost loved ones and all the persons who for one reason or another have lost properties and have to start over.  Bad enough that we are in such dire situations economically but that we should have this as well is even more sad,” he added.