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Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
The Ministry of Finance has credited the designated National Disaster Management Committee accounts with GH¢350 million from the Contingency Fund to finance emergency flood relief and mitigation measures. The transfer follows severe flooding that has affected parts of the country in recent weeks.
The move gives effect to a directive from President John Dramani Mahama, who instructed the Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, to mobilise resources from the Contingency Fund to support immediate relief efforts and strengthen flood mitigation measures across affected communities.
“In line with Article 177 of the 1992 Constitution, the Finance Minister first secured parliamentary approval through the Finance Committee for the withdrawal from the Contingency Fund.”Ministry of Finance
Once Parliament granted approval, the Minister for Finance authorised the Controller and Accountant-General to release and transfer the GH¢350 million to the National Disaster Management Committee.
The funds were earmarked to implement the National Emergency Flood Response Programme, the government’s coordinated plan to address both the immediate humanitarian crisis and the longer term infrastructure gaps that leave communities vulnerable to flooding.
Dedicated Account Opened at Bank of Ghana
Acting on the Minister’s directive, the Controller and Accountant-General opened a dedicated National Disaster Management Committee Account at the Bank of Ghana. The full GH¢350 million has since been transferred into that account, meaning the designated account is now fully credited with the approved amount.
Officials structured the disbursement to serve two distinct purposes. Of the total sum, GH¢200 million will finance urgent relief efforts for flood victims and affected communities, covering needs such as emergency shelter, food, and other immediate support.
The remaining GH¢150 million will fund flood mitigation measures aimed at reducing the frequency and impact of future flooding, addressing the structural causes behind the recurring disaster rather than only its aftermath.
The funding push traces back to June 30, when President Mahama directed the immediate release of GH¢300 million from the Contingency Fund to finance emergency flood relief and long term mitigation efforts.
That directive responded to severe flooding that struck parts of Accra and other communities across southern Ghana following hours of unusually heavy rainfall.
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The Presidency Communications Office, which announced the original directive, said the allocation would be divided equally between immediate relief and mitigation work.
At the time, GH¢150 million was earmarked for urgent assistance to flood affected persons and communities in the southern sector, while the remaining GH¢150 million was set aside for measures designed to reduce the frequency and impact of flooding going forward.
The GH¢350 million now confirmed as fully credited to the National Disaster Management Committee account reflects the government’s finalised disbursement under this emergency response, following the constitutional approval process and subsequent transfer.
Military Engineers Deployed to Clear Waterways
Alongside the financial response, government has turned to the Ghana Armed Forces to accelerate physical clearance work in flood hit areas. The 48 Engineer Regiment has been formally tasked to lead emergency clearance works across affected areas, with military engineers deployed directly onto blocked waterways and drainage systems.
Officials say the deployment allows government to bypass standard procurement delays and move engineers into the field without losing time, a priority given the scale of blockage in drainage infrastructure across flood prone parts of the capital and southern Ghana.
Interior Minister Mubarak Muntaka Mohammed announced the deployment before Parliament, presenting it alongside the GH¢350 million relief and mitigation package and confirming the activation of the National Disaster Management Committee to oversee the broader emergency response.
A Two Track Response to a Recurring Crisis
Taken together, the funding disbursement and the military deployment form a two track response to a crisis that has repeatedly tested Accra’s drainage systems and disaster management capacity.
The relief component addresses the immediate needs of displaced and affected residents, while the mitigation funding and engineering deployment target the underlying infrastructure failures that allow flooding to recur year after year.
Government officials have framed the GH¢350 million transfer as evidence of a swift and constitutionally sound response to the emergency, moving from presidential directive to parliamentary approval to full account credit within a matter of days.
With the National Disaster Management Committee account now fully funded, attention shifts to how efficiently the GH¢200 million in relief funds reaches affected families and how the GH¢150 million mitigation allocation translates into concrete infrastructure improvements.
The performance of the 48 Engineer Regiment in clearing waterways will also serve as an early indicator of whether this emergency response can prevent the scale of flooding seen in recent weeks from repeating in future rainy seasons.
