The Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has outdoored a new District Housing Programme for public sector workers as a bold innovative approach to addressing Ghana’s Rural Housing Development deficit.

The District Housing Programme will provide housing for public sector workers such as nurses, teachers, police officers, doctors and district Assembly workers.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who unveiled the new District Housing Programme at the 2024 Busia Institute Lectures at Takoradi Technical University on the theme; ‘Housing the Future-Innovative Approaches to Rural Development In Ghana’, said Ghana’s current 1.8 million housing deficit and its challenges would persist until the current challenges with financing issues, lack of detailed data, policy frameworks, innovative interventions and institutional frameworks on housing are addressed.

“35% of Ghanaians require affordable housing…We need detailed data to reflect the changing trends in our housing requirements to meet the appropriate interventions. The Ministry is working to get the right innovation in data through research and innovation in institutional framework…”

“We have introduced a number of innovations in the area of Data, in the area of institutional arrangement, financing and project execution and our argument is that these innovations should help reduce some of the old burdens and make it easier for us to work with the private sector“, he said.

He said although successive past leaders like Dr. Kofi Abrefi Busia who was Ghana’s Prime Minister from 1969 to 1972 contributed hugely to rural housing development, the current generation must embrace innovative ways of addressing the housing deficit, therefore the District Housing Programme to help address the challenges.

“Our forebears like Prof Busia ignited this flame many years ago. But we let it dim as the years went by. We have once again an opportunity to learn from and to build on an innovative approach in our quest to tackle the housing situation…”

“In the last three months, we have been working with the Department of Rural Housing, experts in the built environment and other stakeholders and we have developed a rural housing programme for Ghana…We are partnering with the Traditional Authorities through the Assemblies led by the MLGRD to get access to unencumbered land” he noted.

Giving highlights on features of the District Housing Programme, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah told Citi News that the District Housing Programme leverages innovative technologies to solve rural housing problems affordably.

“We need to pay equal attention to the rural Districts. That is why we are going back to the old template of rural housing. However, this time, we are using the Compressed Building Technology and Affordable Alternative Building Technology to start a District Housing Programme”, he justified.

The Works and Housing Minister explained how soon the project will kick off and the likely beneficiary Districts but not how many houses are to be built under the new District Housing Programme.

“In the coming weeks, the contractors will get on site when Cabinet approves the list of selected Districts that are going to start this pilot programme. By crowding in some more funding into the National Housing Fund, then we can escalate and expand to more Districts across the country…when the full rollout is done, we will announce the numbers that we can achieve”, he added.

With the constant issues of the high cost of building materials and its resulting expensive houses, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah spoke about how affordable the District Housing Programme would be.

“Because of the technology we are using which is the Compressed Earth Building Technology, the cost is lower, more eco-friendly, and easier for local artisans to subscribe to use it at the local level.”, he noted.

On achieving a sustainable way of addressing Ghana’s Housing deficit, the Works and Housing Minister told Channel One News that Academic Institutions have a responsibility to foster research for development and therefore commended Takoradi Technical University for the research strides it is making at its Built and Natural Environment Faculty.

Explaining in detail what Takoradi Technical University is doing in the built area, the Vice Chancellor of TTU, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun who hosted the 2024 Busia Institute Lectures said the University’s Faculty of Built and Natural Environment has researched into utilising local materials to support Ghana’s housing cost.

“At Takoradi Technical University, we are deeply committed to embracing and driving innovations in housing. This commitment is exemplified by the outstanding work being undertaken by the Faculties of Built and Natural Environment and Engineering. These faculties are at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices into the development of housing solutions.”

“For instance, students from the Faculty of Built and Natural Environment have been actively engaged in designing, constructing, and applying composite materials for roofing and flooring in the housing industry. These projects incorporate diverse materials such as wood and plastic waste, palm kernel shells, and glass, showcasing our dedication to sustainable practices.

The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah who exalted Busia’s Progress government’s rural development policy stated that it led to developments including the provision of water to rural communities including the Barekese and Anwiankwanta water projects, first to introduce Health Insurance Scheme and as well the Nkontompo Housing Scheme in Takoradi.

The Paramount Chief of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim who chaired the event and the Executive Director of the Busia Institute, Anane Agyei, both said the ideas shared at the lectures would drive rural housing issues and policy that will promote rural development in Ghana.

The Works and Housing Minister later joined the Vice Chancellor of TTU to inspect the building technology exhibition by the Faculty of Built and Natural Environment.