Mahama Orders Sanctions for Officials Over Building Collapses

President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, to ensure that officials who fail to properly enforce building safety regulations are identified and sanctioned.

He said officials responsible for inspecting buildings, issuing permits and ensuring compliance with safety regulations must be held accountable when they neglect their duties. Speaking at the National Conference on Housing Finance on 7 October 2026, Mahama said enforcement must be strengthened, particularly at the district assembly level.

"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 also expressed concern about buildings continuing to go up despite stop-work orders, saying: "More often than not, you see red paint stop work, and yet the work continues. And you wonder what's happening."

Mahama said the responsibility for enforcing building safety standards cannot end with the issuance of permits, insisting that district assemblies must ensure developers comply with approved requirements. Beyond structural safety, he called for measures to address overcrowding in slums, insecure land tenure, poor sanitation and inadequate access to utilities, adding that homes must be "safe, accessible and connected to jobs and essential services".