McDonald Owusu knelt in the mud, palms clasped, eyes pleading. Around him, bulldozers roared to life as armed security personnel stood guard. The sound of crashing concrete echoed through the Klagon wetlands, one of several ecologically sensitive areas in Greater Accra now at the center of a government-backed demolition exercise.
“I begged them, I pleaded. I wrote letters and made calls to various offices but nobody responded,” Owusu said, his voice cracking with emotion. “Now my entire investment is gone.”
Owusu is among dozens of developers affected by the Greater Accra Regional Security Council’s (REGSEC) crackdown on buildings sited within waterways. Launched on May 27, the exercise follows days of heavy flooding that left homes submerged, roads impassable, and lives disrupted across the capital.
Authorities say the move is necessary to prevent future disasters. The demolitions are targeting properties that block natural watercourses—particularly in flood-prone zones such as Tema, Sakumo, and Klagon. These areas, once vital wetlands and designated Ramsar sites, have been choked by concrete structures and poor planning over the years.
At the demolition site, the Minister for Greater Accra, Titus Glover, remained firm. “We cannot look on while people endanger all of us. These structures are sitting right on water channels. This is a matter of life and death,” he said before ordering the machines forward.
Despite the human cost, authorities insist the exercise is long overdue. “This is not just about buildings. It’s about restoring nature’s pathways and protecting lives,” said a REGSEC official.
Still, public reactions have been mixed. While some residents support the demolition as a necessary step to control flooding, others argue that it unfairly targets individuals who may have received informal approval or were simply unaware of the full risks.
Graphic Online, which identified Owusu, captured the heartbreak in photos—piles of rubble, shattered dreams, and one man’s desperate plea for mercy in the face of a policy long ignored and now being ruthlessly enforced.
As the rains continue to threaten the city, the message from government is clear: no structure is too massive to fall if it stands in the way of water.
