Mahama orders sanctions for officials who fail to enforce building safety rules

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 buildings collapse.

The President said public officials tasked with ensuring compliance with building standards must be identified and sanctioned if they fail to perform their duties.

He made the call on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, when he addressed the National Conference on Housing Finance, where he stressed the need for stricter enforcement of building regulations by district assemblies.

President Mahama expressed concern about the continued construction of buildings despite stop-work orders issued by local authorities.

He questioned why construction was allowed to continue after authorities had marked buildings with red paint to indicate that work should cease.

“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?”

According to the President, accountability must be established whenever structural failures occur, particularly in cases where officials responsible for enforcing safety standards failed to act.

“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.

He said the enforcement of building regulations must be strengthened at the district assembly level, where permits are issued and compliance with safety requirements is monitored.

The comments come amid concerns over building collapses in Ghana, with more than 75 such incidents estimated to have occurred across the country over the past five years. An estimated one to three multi-storey building failures are also recorded annually.

Beyond structural safety, President Mahama called for broader measures to improve housing conditions, particularly in deprived communities.

He identified overcrowding in slums, insecure land tenure, poor sanitation and limited access to utilities as challenges requiring urgent attention.

“We must also ensure that the homes we build are safe, accessible and connected to jobs and essential services,” he said.