Exactly a year ago Ghanaians were shocked at the issues surrounding the collapse of the new six-storey building, housing the Melcom mall at Achimota, killing 14 people.
An eleven member committee was set up by the Ghana Institute of Engineers at the time and came out with a report citing the use of substandard materials in the construction of the collapsed building.
The President, John Dramani Mahama said those responsible for the “negligence will pay a price”.
The resultant argument was over who to blame with fingers pointing at the owner for allegedly using substandard materials, also the Accra Metropolitan Assembly for granting a building permit without proper checks and finally, the management of Melcom for placing heavy equipment on the top floor of the building.
Nana Boadu Nkansah Ayeboafo, owner of the building denied claims by AMA that the building had no permit. He was placed in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations for over a week until the Human Rights Court granted him a self-recognizance bail of five thousand Ghana cedis in the case put forth by the AMA.
Also detained for some days was the Ga West Municipal Director of Works, Mr. Victor Mensah who took no action when his attention was drawn to the “illegal” construction of the multi-storey building when he was the Municipal Director of Works at the AMA.
The Co-Managing Director of Melcom, Ramesh Sadhwani was also picked up by the BNI for questioning over alleged acts of negligence resulting in the collapse of the building.
A year on and nothing is known about the outcome of the investigations and adjudication over the incident. Has anyone been held accountable?
