President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, to ensure that officials responsible for enforcing building safety regulations are held accountable when structural failures occur.
He said officials charged with ensuring compliance with building safety standards must be identified and sanctioned if they fail to properly enforce the regulations.
President Mahama made the remarks on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at the National Conference on Housing Finance, where he called for stronger enforcement of building regulations by district assemblies.
He expressed concern that some buildings continue to be constructed despite stop-work orders issued by local authorities, stressing that such directives must be enforced.
“More often than not, you see red paint stop work, and yet the work continues. And you wonder what’s happening,” President Mahama said.
“And one day they are working, and the whole house comes tumbling down. You ask, who gave the permit for that building?”
The President said there must be accountability whenever a building collapses, particularly where regulatory officials are found to have failed in their duties.
“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,” he said.
President Mahama said the issue must be tackled at the district assembly level, where building permits are issued and compliance with safety standards is monitored.
His comments come amid growing concerns over building collapses in Ghana, with more than 75 such incidents reportedly recorded across the country over the past five years. An estimated one to three multi-storey building failures are also recorded annually.
Beyond building safety, President Mahama called for broader measures to improve housing conditions, including addressing overcrowding in slum communities, insecure land tenure, poor sanitation and limited access to basic utilities.
“We must also ensure that the homes we build are safe, accessible and connected to jobs and essential services,” he said.