KNUST Professor Calls for Pro-poor Housing Model as Government Pledges Reforms
A leading Ghanaian academic has called on city authorities to incorporate the needs of low-income households into urban planning, warning that rising land costs and inaccessible housing are deepening inequality.
S.O. Afram, professor of architecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, told a forum in Accra on Tuesday that affordable housing schemes should adapt traditional compound house models, which remain accessible to poorer families. “When we do planning for the city, we should also think about the poor,” he said, adding that the concept offers affordability and community-based security.
Prof Afram cautioned that land prices in Accra are escalating beyond the reach of most households, even for those with financial means. “Land cost and accessibility, you can’t even get the land in Accra and when you get you pay more,” he said.
Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, minister of works and housing, used the same forum to defend the government’s approach to closing Ghana’s housing deficit, estimated in the millions. He said the administration of President John Mahama was rolling out a low-cost housing programme for public sector workers alongside a national rental assistance scheme, describing housing provision as an “urgent and collective” national priority.
“The measures we have introduced focus on pragmatic approaches to close the affordability gap and reduce the deficit,” the minister said, expressing confidence that Mahama’s reset agenda could translate policy into delivery.
