Professional body that has called for stricter building regulation enforcement and overhaul of Ghana's stormwater management policies to address urban flooding and construction deficiencies.
… The call was made at the Built Environment Professionals Breakfast Roundtable on “Greater Metropolitan Area Management in Ghana: Towards Integrated Planning, Governance and Infrastructure Delivery,” jointly organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Ghana Institute …
… The Chairman of the Structural Subdivision of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Joshua Alotey, made the call at a joint press conference by the GhIE, the Institution of Engineering and Technology Ghana and the Local Government Service Engineers Association yesterday in …
… The call was made at the Built Environment Professionals Breakfast Roundtable on “Greater Metropolitan Area Management in Ghana: Towards Integrated Planning, Governance and Infrastructure Delivery,” jointly organised by the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Ghana Institute …
A Joint Technical Investigative Committee comprising structural engineering specialists and statutory representatives from the Structural Sub-division of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana (IET-Gh), and the Architectu …
… Emmanuel Aidoo, a Professional Engineer with the Ghana Institution of Engineering specialising in Structural Engineering, told journalists that even from a visual assessment, the concrete in the collapsed building showed clear signs of weakness. …
The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has called for an urgent overhaul of Ghana’s stormwater management policies, warning that the country’s existing drainage systems are no longer capable of addressing the challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, climate variability and in …
Built environment professionals have called for urgent reforms to Ghana's metropolitan governance system to address urbanisation, infrastructure delivery, transportation, sanitation, flooding, and land-use management challenges in major urban centres including Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi, and Greater Sekondi-Takoradi. Participants noted that while decentralisation has increased the number of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, it has created fragmented governance structures that hinder coordinated planning and service delivery across contiguous urban areas.
Why it matters
Built environment professionals call for metropolitan governance reforms to address fragmented structures hindering coordinated planning in Greater Accra, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi.
Built environment professionals have called for urgent reforms to Ghana's metropolitan governance system to address urbanisation, infrastructure delivery, transportation, sanitation, flooding, and land-use management challenges in major urban centres including Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi, and Greater Sekondi-Takoradi. Participants noted that while decentralisation has increased the number of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, it has created fragmented governance structures that hinder coordinated planning and service delivery across contiguous urban areas.
Engineering institutions have urged regulatory authorities to enforce building regulations more strictly, citing investigations into recent collapses that revealed widespread disregard for permits, building standards, and professional supervision. The findings documented buildings erected without qualified engineers, deficient foundation design, and construction projects lacking approved plans or valid permits.
Built environment professionals are calling for urgent reforms to Ghana's metropolitan governance system to address urbanisation, infrastructure delivery, transportation, sanitation, flooding, and land-use management challenges. Participants noted that while decentralisation has increased the number of MMDAs, it has created fragmented governance structures that hinder coordinated planning and service delivery across urban areas.
A structural engineer has welcomed the government's planned audit of building permits by local assemblies as a positive step, but cautioned that permit audits alone will not resolve unsafe construction practices and weak enforcement of planning regulations. He warned that many buildings lack proper permits and structural designs, and called for broader national intervention involving key regulatory bodies.
A structural engineering expert has attributed recent building collapses to poor professional supervision, use of substandard materials, and failure to comply with approved construction designs. The Executive Secretary of the Structural Sub-Division of the Ghana Institution of Engineering said the incidents highlight persistent weaknesses in Ghana's construction sector, noting that developers often bypass licensed professionals, rely on unqualified workers, use inferior materials, and fail to follow approved designs.
A joint technical committee from engineering and architecture bodies concluded that the Madina building collapse in La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal Assembly resulted from serious regulatory breaches, structural deficiencies, and unsafe construction practices, including lack of statutory approvals, disregarded stop-work directives, and an unauthorised additional floor under construction at the time.
An opinion piece argues that floods across African cities are not primarily caused by rain or climate change, but by persistent human behaviours—blocked drains, abused waterways, and ignored warnings—that communities continue to protect rather than reform.
A structural engineer who inspected the Avenor building collapse said the four-storey structure showed visible signs of concrete weakness and did not meet the standard compressive strength requirement of at least 25 Newtons per square millimetre, noting that such buildings require proper engineering design and cannot be constructed without professional oversight.
The Ghana Institution of Engineering has called for urgent overhaul of Ghana's stormwater management policies, warning that the country's existing drainage infrastructure is no longer capable of addressing challenges posed by rapid urbanisation, climate variability and increasing flood risks. The institution noted that flooding in Accra and other cities had become more frequent and severe over the past decade, with many drains clogged by solid waste and reduced hydraulic capacity.
The Ghana Institution of Engineering has called for urgent overhaul of the country's stormwater management policies, warning that conventional drainage infrastructure designed to move water downstream is no longer adequate for rapid urbanisation, climate variability, and increasing flood risks in cities like Accra.
The Ghana Institution of Engineering has called for an urgent overhaul of Ghana's stormwater management policies, warning that the country's current drainage systems are inadequate for rapid urbanisation, climate variability, and increasing flood risks. Flooding in Accra has become a structural challenge driven by rapid urbanisation, loss of natural infiltration areas, and fragmented management systems, with incidents becoming more frequent and severe over the past decade.
The Ghana Institution of Engineering has called for an urgent overhaul of Ghana's stormwater management policies, warning that conventional drainage infrastructure designed to move stormwater downstream has become inadequate for rapid urbanisation, climate variability, and increasing flood risks. The Institution notes that flooding in Accra is increasingly a structural challenge driven by rapid urbanisation, loss of natural infiltration areas, and fragmented management systems.
Prof. Douglas Boateng argues that Africa's repeated cycles of IMF intervention stem from poor spending discipline and procurement practices focused on lowest price rather than long-term value creation, not merely from debt or lack of resources.