Your local assembly probably doesn't have enough engineers to check whether that new building going up next door is safe. And that's a big problem.

Emmanuel Cherry, President of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, says Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country are struggling to regulate physical development because they lack staff, logistics, and money.

"Some assemblies have only one or two engineers overseeing an entire municipality," Cherry said at an event where the Chamber honoured Nickseth Construction Company Limited as the Best Building and Civil Engineering Company of the year 2024/2025. "That makes effective supervision of developments extremely difficult."

Cherry explained that although assemblies employ architects, engineers, planners, and surveyors, many are operating with skeletal staff. The result: delays in processing building permit applications and weak monitoring of construction activities.

"We have architects, engineers, planners, and surveyors within the assemblies, but many of them are understaffed."

He also blamed delays in releasing budgetary allocations to assemblies, calling the situation a major setback to service delivery. Without funds, routine site inspections become hard to carry out.

"Government must equip the assemblies, recruit more technical personnel, and ensure the timely release of funds to help them carry out their regulatory responsibilities effectively," Cherry said.

He warned that when assemblies lack logistics and money, it creates room for irregularities in the building permit process. That could lead to haphazard development and unsafe structures.

Nicholas Frimpong Boateng, who received the award on behalf of Nickseth Construction, highlighted another headache for the industry: delayed payments. Both government and private clients are slow to pay contractors, he said.

"One of the biggest challenges in the construction industry is delayed payment," Frimpong Boateng said. "Construction isn't something everyone can do without the required technical expertise. It requires skilled professionals, proper planning, budgeting, and forecasting to achieve the desired results."

He encouraged construction firms to stay innovative, embrace competition, and maintain high standards. "Competition helps raise standards and ultimately benefits the entire construction sector," he added.

The Chamber's call comes as Ghana's construction sector continues to grow, with new buildings springing up in cities like Accra and Kumasi. But without strong regulatory oversight, the quality and safety of those buildings remain uncertain.

  • Emmanuel Cherry is President of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry.
  • MMDAs are Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.
  • Some assemblies have only 1–2 engineers for the whole municipality.
  • Nickseth Construction won Best Building and Civil Engineering Company of the year 2024/2025.
  • Delayed payments by government and private clients are a major challenge for contractors.