Kwesi Pratt Jnr, the Managing Editor of The Insight Newspaper, has critiqued President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to inspect flood-hit areas in Accra from a helicopter.
According to Kwesi Pratt, the aesthetics of President Mahama flying in a helicopter to access June 29 flood devastation was not the best.
Kwesi Pratt argued that Mahama could have better demonstrated empathy by visiting victims in person rather than observing the situation from the air.
He further argued that a helicopter tour could not provide scientific solutions to the country’s flooding problem.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on July 1, 2026, Kwesi Pratt stated, “Yesterday, or two days ago, the President decided to go on a helicopter trip around the flooded areas to assess the damage. Now, I know the President to be a historian and a journalist.
His trip is not likely to produce a scientific outcome. This helicopter trip is not likely to produce a scientific outcome for the problems that the people of this country are confronted with.it showed some empathy, but I would have thought that would be better displayed if he was walking on the ground, touching people, getting into affected homes, lifting babies and so on; the empathy would have been better expressed than flying around the flooded city in a helicopter”.
Kwesi Pratt added, “I don’t think that the aesthetics are good enough in a situation where you have this massive flooding, and your leaders are in helicopters flying over you. But that has been done; at least it showed some level of concern, even though the aesthetics do not appear to be excellent”.
The veteran journalist’s remark comes on the heels of President John Dramani Mahama, who conducted an aerial inspection of flood-hit areas in the nation’s capital, Accra, following the heavy downpour on Sunday, June 28, 2026, to Monday, June 29, 2026.
In the viral video, President Mahama was spotted with a worried look as he watched the devastating effects caused by the heavy downpour.
President Mahama, in the video, pointed out some structures, which, according to him, were in the way of the floodwater and had to be removed.
The Minister for Works and Housing, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, the Director-General of Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Dr Joseph Bikanyi Kuyon, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stan Dogbe, who is also the Chairman of the government’s Anti-Flood Taskforce, were all spotted alongside Mahama during the aerial inspection of Accra’s flooded areas.
In a post on Social media, President John Mahama wrote, “The amount of rainfall recorded today is among the highest experienced in several years. Preliminary data indicates that approximately 140 millimetres of rain fell on Accra. By comparison, the highest single-day rainfall recorded last year was about 56 millimetres.
That aspect of the problem is beyond our control because it is driven by changing climatic conditions. There is the issue of human behaviour.
Whenever government begins removing structures built in waterways, some people accuse us of being inhumane. Yet when disasters such as today’s flooding occur, the consequences affect everyone. The irresponsible actions of a few individuals end up putting entire communities at risk”.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has directed a coordinated crackdown on drainage blockages and announced emergency relief funding for victims of Monday’s devastating floods in Accra.
Mahama disclosed that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, working with the Ministry of Works, Housing and Water Resources, will be tasked to identify all points where drainage channels are blocked for immediate removal.
He also added that the response will go beyond demolition of illegal structures, insisting that debris must also be cleared.
“We’re asking every district to identify, together with the Works and Housing Ministry, where the blockages in the channels are… so that we can earmark those places for removal,” he said.
“We’ll not only break the houses. We have to move the rubble out of the way because there’s no use breaking a house and leaving the rubble in the waterways,” he said.
Watch the video below:
The amount of rainfall recorded today is among the highest experienced in several years. Preliminary data indicates that approximately 140 millimetres of rain fell on Accra. By comparison, the highest single-day rainfall recorded last year was about 56 millimetres.
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) June 29, 2026
That aspect… pic.twitter.com/mD9GESrVB8
