The President of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), Alfred Asiedu Adjei, has highlighted the systemic negligence within Ghana’s development framework following the fatal collapse of a long-abandoned structure in Accra New Town.
In a statement released on Monday, 30th March 2026, the NALAG President described the incident, which resulted in multiple fatalities and severe injuries, as a “preventable tragedy” and a “national wake-up call” that exposes deep-seated failures in accountability, monitoring, and enforcement.
The structure in question, reportedly a public project initiated over 10 years ago, had stood incomplete and unmonitored in the heart of a dense community. Over the years, the skeletal frame became a hub for various local activities despite its visibly deteriorating state.
“The critical question is: how did we allow such a known hazard to persist in the heart of a community?” Mr Adjei asked. “This is not about assigning blame. It is about confronting a systemic issue within our governance and development processes.”
The Three Pillars of Failure
The NALAG President identified a total breakdown in three critical areas of local administration:
- Accountability: A lack of a defined “chain of responsibility” for stalled projects.
- Monitoring: Inadequate resources for District and Municipal Assemblies to conduct routine safety inspections.
- Enforcement: A failure to take “non-negotiable” action, such as demolition or restriction of access, on structures posing an obvious risk to life.
A Call for a National Audit
To prevent a recurrence of the New Town disaster in other parts of the country, Mr Adjei proposed an immediate four-point emergency plan. Central to this is a nationwide audit of all uncompleted public and private structures to assess their structural integrity.
“Must we always wait for disaster before we act?” he questioned. “As a nation, we must transition from reactive responses to proactive governance. Prevention must become the cornerstone of our development strategy.”
Mr Adjei, who also serves as the Presiding Member of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), stressed that the safety of Ghanaians must transcend partisan interests. He urged strengthened coordination between central government agencies and local authorities to ensure no project is left “unattended without accountability.”
“Let me emphasise: this is not a political issue. It is a human issue. The loss of even one life due to preventable circumstances is unacceptable,” the NALAG leader stated.
As the community of Accra New Town mourns, the pressure now shifts to the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development to implement the structural reforms demanded by the nation’s local authorities.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
