The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has launched a digital fire system dubbed Automated Fire Compliance and Safety System (AFCAS) to check all properties and fire equipment to ensure compliance with approved standards.
The online system, created by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and other partners, is to help make buildings safer from fire.
The new system, a shift from the manual way of detecting and addressing fire issues, is to enhance the protection of homes, schools, shops and offices, and to also aid businesses to work easily and eventually make the country safer.
Beyond that, it is to ensure that all equipment brought into the country meet the required standards by linking them to the system.
The minister said the launch signalled a decisive step in Ghana’s journey towards modern, responsive, and technology-driven public service delivery, particularly within the critical area of public safety.
It is part of a broad programme of digitalising all security services to improve efficiency.
“Very soon, you will not have to go to any embassy for visas; you can do it online,” Mr Mohammed-Mubarak said.
Safety not luxury
The minister said fire safety was not a luxury, but a national necessity.
“It underpins the safety of our citizens, the protection of lives and property, investor confidence, and the sustainability of our national development agenda,” he said.
Mr Mohammed-Mubarak said as the country’s cities expanded, industries grew, and infrastructure investments increased, the demand for an efficient, transparent, and preventive fire safety compliance system had never been more urgent.
The Member of Parliament for Asawase Constituency said AFCAS represented a bold transition from manual, fragmented, and time-consuming processes to a digital, standardised, and technology-driven fire safety compliance regime.
He said through this system, the GNFS would be better positioned to engage the public, streamline inspections, reduce turnaround times, and improve service delivery across homes, businesses, factories, offices, and public institutions.
“This initiative aligns strongly with the broader government policy of leveraging technology and innovation to make doing business easier, reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks, and guarantee the security of investments in Ghana.”
“A predictable, transparent, and efficient regulatory environment is essential for attracting and retaining both local and foreign investments, and AFCAS directly supports this objective,” Mr Mohammed-Mubarak said.
The system is built to enable the Fire Service to monitor compliance in real time, identify high-risk facilities early, and take proactive measures to prevent fire outbreaks before they occur.
This, the minister said, would strengthen inspection, planning and generating reliable data, as well as supporting evidence-based decision-making and long-term fire safety planning nationwide.
In this way, he said, AFCAS would save lives, protect livelihoods, safeguard national assets, and reduce avoidable losses to fire disasters.
Mr Mohammed-Mubarak announced that henceforth, rent allowances of fire service staff would be paid together with their salaries.
Chief
The Chief Fire Officer of the GNFS, Daniella Mawusi Ntow Sarpong, speaking on the theme: “Transforming Fire safety compliance through innovation”, said it reflected a deliberate shift in how fire was regulated in the country.
The first female Chief Fire Officer said the manual system was fragmented and time-consuming.
“Processes were paper-based, inspections were difficult to track, turnaround times were long, and both the public and the service faced avoidable frustrations.
While our officers worked diligently under these conditions, the system itself limited efficiency, transparency, and preventive effectiveness,” she said.
Mrs Sarpong said the service was embracing technology, innovation, and partnerships to deliver faster, transparent, standardised, and accountable fire safety compliance services.
Consequently, she said, the service envisioned a future where fire safety regulation was not only effective but also preventive.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh