The Collapsed wall of Rawlings’ House at Ridge
Former President Jerry John Rawlings was not spared by yesterday’s heavy downpour that hit most parts of southern Ghana, as the walls of his Ridge residence in Accra were pulled down by the storm.
The collapsed walls, according to Citi Fm’s report, resembled the remnants of an Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) demolition exercise.
There were at least four police officers at post at Mr Rawlings’ residence, but his security detail declined to speak to the media.
Apart from Mr Rawlings’ residence, other parts of the capital recorded serious flooding as well as heavy vehicular traffic on major roads such as the Spintex, Kaneshie and Kasoa roads.
Some drivers who called into the Citi Fm ‘morning show’ programme indicated that attempts by other drivers to manoeuvre their way through traffic had resulted in a gridlock, requiring police presence to restore sanity on the roads.
But ASP Alexander Obeng, Head of Education, Research and Training, Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) said the situation was under control.
“Traffic police officers are scattered all over those areas. We are doing what we have to do. It is because of the coincidence that it is rush hour, and usually traffic is there and it’s intended indiscipline among motorists, and the rains that have blown down burying the road compounding traffic, but there shouldn’t be panic,” he said.
“It is easing all over. Now we are on the ground and we are doing what we have to do,” he added.
Areas such as Teshie-Nungua, Abeka Lapaz, Shiashie, Darkuman and Kaneshie in Accra and Ahensan in Kumasi were badly affected.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) reported that major parts of Accra were flooded after the heavy rainfall.
The Ghana Meteorological Agency said it didn’t forecast that parts of the country would experience heavy rains that could cause flooding, but the heavy rains yesterday submerged some roads, houses and vehicles in some parts of the national capital.
A lot of people who were travelling from home in the early hours of the day were stranded in traffic because the flood waters had covered major roads.
The GNA claimed that several areas, including Okponglo, Dzorwulu, Kaneshie and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle were flooded.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Meteorological Agency has warned that there would also be heavy rains on Friday in the Central, Western and Brong-Ahafo Regions.
In a statement yesterday, the Agency said a thunderstorm and rain-bearing cloud system located over the coast and middle sectors were expected to persist and would affect places in the selected regions.
The Agency, which said it did not forecast that parts of the country would experience heavy rains that could cause flooding, warned residents at Alajo, Circle, Kaneshie, Mateheko, Nima, Dzorwulu, South Odorkor and Osu in the Accra metropolis to be cautious as those places are flood-prone.