President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs to hold officials accountable where failures to enforce building regulations contribute to structural collapses.
The President said officials responsible for issuing building permits, monitoring construction and enforcing safety requirements must be identified and sanctioned when they fail to perform their duties.
He gave the directive to the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, at the National Conference on Housing Finance on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
President Mahama expressed concern about the continued construction of buildings despite stop-work orders issued by local authorities, saying such directives had little value if they were not enforced.
“More often than not, you see red paint stop work, and yet the work continues. And you wonder what’s happening,” he said.
He questioned the regulatory failures that often emerge after a building collapses, asking: “One day they are working, and the whole house comes tumbling down. You ask, who gave the permit for that building?”
Assemblies urged to enforce building rules
The President said local government authorities must take greater responsibility for monitoring construction and ensuring compliance with approved building standards.
He stressed that whenever a building collapses, authorities must establish whose responsibility it was to ensure that the structure was safe.
“These are things that the Ministry of Local Government should take very seriously. If a house collapses, we must see whose duty it was to ensure that that house was safe, and that person must be sanctioned for it,” President Mahama said.
He therefore directed that enforcement of building regulations be strengthened at the district assembly level, where building permits and compliance with safety requirements are monitored.
The directive comes amid concerns over structural failures across the country, with more than 75 building collapses estimated to have occurred over the past five years and between one and three multi-storey building failures recorded annually.
Beyond structural safety, President Mahama said efforts to improve Ghana’s housing situation must also address overcrowding in slums, insecure land tenure, poor sanitation and inadequate access to basic utilities.
He said housing policy should focus not only on increasing the number of homes but also on ensuring that the structures provided are safe, accessible and connected to employment opportunities and essential services.
“We must also ensure that the homes we build are safe, accessible and connected to jobs and essential services,” he said.
