The Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the devastating fire that gutted a building in Tudu, Accra, stressing the need for accountability and stronger enforcement of building regulations to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Speaking during a visit to the affected area on Friday, June 5, the Vice President expressed concern over the condition of the building and questioned whether warning signs had been ignored before the disaster occurred.
“When we wake up in the morning, that is not what we expect to see, but this has happened,” she said. “Looking at this building, I am just wondering what the history of this building is and for how long it has been in this condition.”
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang noted that while the immediate focus should be on supporting victims who had lost property and addressing the trauma experienced by affected residents, especially children, it was equally important to examine the factors that contributed to the incident.
She urged authorities to assess the structural condition of the building, determine whether it was being used according to its intended capacity, and establish what failures may have occurred.
“We need to examine all of them because we need them going forward so we do not repeat the situation,” she stated. “First of all, we need to do an evaluation. We need to find out exactly what went wrong.”
The Vice President emphasized that development and urban growth must not come at the expense of public safety, adding that regulations exist to protect lives and should be strictly enforced.
“There are times when rules do not seem to make a lot of sense because nobody wants to be restricted. We all want our freedom, but that freedom should not come at the cost of anybody’s life,” she said.
According to her, if a building is approved to accommodate a specific number of occupants, authorities must ensure compliance rather than wait until lives are endangered.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang also linked the incident to the government’s broader agenda of accountability and institutional reform, saying it highlighted the need to rethink existing systems and make them more effective.
“When we talk about being accountable, it is all part of it. When we talk about resetting, it is all part of it. We need to rethink the way we have been doing things and try to do things differently and make them more effective,” she said.
The Vice President commended the Greater Accra Regional Minister, the Member of Parliament for the area, personnel of the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service, the media, and other stakeholders for their swift response to the emergency.
She expressed relief that no lives were lost despite the scale of the disaster and praised rescue teams for their efforts in protecting residents from harm.
“I am very happy to note that we have not lost a life. The important thing is to ensure that we do not get to those days as often as sometimes we do,” she said.
She also presented relief items including mattresses, blankets, bags of rice, sugar, bags of beans and boxes of oil to persons who were affected by the fire.
The fire, which occurred on June 3, 2026, destroyed portions of the building and displaced several occupants, prompting emergency response teams to intervene and prevent further damage.
By Evelyn Tengmaa
