He said officials whose responsibility it was to ensure that buildings were safe must be identified and sanctioned if they failed to properly enforce safety requirements.
President Mahama made the remarks at the National Conference on Housing Finance on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, where he called for stronger enforcement of building regulations at the district assembly level.
He expressed concern about the continued construction of buildings despite stop-work orders issued by local authorities, saying 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?”
President Mahama said responsibility must be established whenever a building collapses, particularly where regulatory officials had failed to carry out 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.
The President said the issue must be addressed at the district assembly level, where building permits and compliance with safety requirements are monitored.
His comments come amid concerns over structural failures in Ghana, with more than 75 building collapses estimated to have been recorded across the country over the past five years and an estimated one to three multi-storey building failures occurring annually.
President Mahama also called for broader action to improve housing conditions, including addressing overcrowding in slums, insecure land tenure, poor sanitation and inadequate access to utilities.
“We must also ensure that the homes we build are safe, accessible and connected to jobs and essential services,” he said.