The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs (MLGCRA) has hosted the fifth progress meeting on the ongoing Junction Improvement Project under the Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (GUMAP), confirming steady advancement across all six project sites in the Greater Accra Region.

The meeting, co-chaired by Ing. William Dickson of DaovTech Design Group and Ing. Patience Onny, Chief Road Safety Engineer at the Department of Urban Roads (DUR), brought together key stakeholders to assess work done so far and address emerging issues. The Ministry of Finance, however, was not represented at the session.

Updates presented showed that Lot 1, located at Mambo Junction in Ga Central, is 74 percent complete. Lot 2, covering the Otublohum Road/Obibini Street Intersection in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), stands at 58.7 percent. In Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), the Baba Yara Road/Padmore Street intersection under Lot 3 has reached 62 percent. Lot 4, at the Ashongman Road/Alafia Road intersection in Ga East, is 40.6 percent complete. In Ga West, Lot 5 at the Three Junction site has seen 71 percent completion, while Lot 6, covering the Ogbojo New Market intersection in Adentan and La Nkwantanang Madina, has reached 63.3 percent.

A key highlight of the meeting was the report that Ga West Municipal Assembly has successfully removed all traders obstructing progress within the project scope, a directive issued at the previous meeting. Meanwhile, concerns were raised at the AMA site, where long vehicles are encroaching on pedestrian walkways. To address this, stakeholders agreed on the need to install bollards on the shoulders of the walkways to prevent further interference.

Ing. Patience Onny urged all assemblies to enforce their bye-laws to prevent trading on walkways, stressing that this defeats the purpose of creating safe pedestrian spaces. She also encouraged assemblies to intensify community sensitization around the project areas to ensure the walkways remain free of trading activities during and after construction.

Assemblies are expected to submit their sensitization activity reports to the Ministry by Wednesday, 7th May 2025. The sixth progress review meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, 21st May 2025.

The Junction Improvement Project is a key component of the broader GUMAP intervention, aimed at improving road safety, easing congestion, and enhancing mobility within key urban centres.

Source: Darling Maame Efua Cann/Stephanie Edem Klutsey

(Public Relations Unit MLGDRD)

As part of nationwide efforts to build momentum toward the reintroduction of the National Sanitation Day (NSD), a multi-stakeholder team embarked on a public engagement campaign in Kwahu during the Easter festivities.

The delegation included officials from the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, members of the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), and a dynamic youth-led group known as Jospong Under 40, a movement within the Jospong Group of Companies. Together, they carried out targeted awareness activities to sensitize the public on the importance of environmental cleanliness and community action.

Kwahu, known for attracting large crowds during Easter, offered an ideal platform to engage citizens on the upcoming National Sanitation Day  initiative. Through street floats, direct community interaction, and media engagement, the team conveyed the renewed national agenda for cleanliness and public health.

The campaign marks one of several awareness-building activities being rolled out ahead of the formal reintroduction of National Sanitation Day in May.

It also underscores the Ministry’s strategy of inclusive partnership, uniting public institutions, private sector actors, and youth voices to drive a nationwide shift in sanitation consciousness and behaviour.

Source: Darling Maame Efua Cann

(Public Relations Unit MLGDRD)

The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim, has called for stronger cooperation between Ghana and Singapore, especially in the areas of education, trade, and investment. He made the request when he received the Singapore Non-Resident Representative of Singapore to Palestine, and High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr. Hawazi Daipi, during a courtesy call at the Ministry.

Welcoming the High Commissioner, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim said Ghana values its long-standing relationship with Singapore. He recalled that Ghana and Singapore have had strong ties since the days of Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He added that Ghana continues to learn from Singapore and other countries that started their development journey around the same time.

The Minister asked the High Commissioner to consider the possibility of offering scholarships to Ghanaian students to study in Singapore. He said areas such as marketing, logistics, and port management are key for Ghana’s development, and Singapore has expertise in those fields. “If even 10 Ghanaian students are given the chance to study in these areas each year, it will go a long way to support Ghana’s development,” he said.

He also suggested that such a scholarship initiative could be done in partnership with the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs.

The Chief Director of the Ministry added that some Ghanaian government officials have already benefitted from short-term training programmes in Singapore in areas like public policy, project management, and human resource development. He called for the expansion of such support to cover young Ghanaians who want to study in areas where Singapore has strengths, especially port and harbor operations.

In response, Mr. Hawazi said Singapore has over the years trained about 750 Ghanaian civil servants through various programmes. He said Singapore would share more information about its available training programmes, and encouraged more Ghanaian officials to take part.

The Minister thanked the High Commissioner and said Ghana looks forward to closer cooperation in the years ahead.

Source: Matilda Tettey/Darling Maame Efua Cann

(Public Relations Unit MLGDRD)