How Was This Allowed?: Vice President Condemns Approval Lapses in Newtown Collapse

On Monday morning, March 30, 2026, Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang issued a scathing critique of the regulatory failures that led to the Accra Newtown Experimental School building collapse.

During her visit to the site, where three people died and 20 were rescued from the rubble of an uncompleted three-storey structure, the Vice President demanded immediate answers regarding the building's legal status.

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A Question of "Criminal Negligence"

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang questioned how a "visibly weak" structure was permitted to remain standing and in active use within a school compound for over a decade:

Questioning the Permit: The Vice President raised serious concerns about the approval processes and building permits, questioning which officials allowed an uncompleted 14-year-old project to host public gatherings.

Condemning Lapses: She condemned the "circumstances and lapses" that turned a place of learning and worship into a death trap, calling it an unacceptable failure of local government oversight.

Strict Enforcement: The Veep emphasized that under the "National Reset" policy, there would be "no room for compromise" on building regulations, stating that public safety must always outweigh political or personal interests.

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The "14-Year-Old Warning"

Reports from the scene indicate that the tragedy was a "disaster waiting to happen":

Ignored Warnings: Residents claim they had warned church leaders and local officials for over a year that the building was structurally unsound.

Systemic Failure: Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato of the University of Ghana described the collapse as a "national scandal" and a result of a corrupt oversight system where responsibility is ignored until lives are lost.

The GETFund Project: Preliminary assessments suggest the building was an abandoned GETFund project from 2012 that was never properly decommissioned or secured by the Ghana Education Service (GES).

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Site Snapshot: March 30, 2026

Feature	Details
Total Casualties	23 (3 Dead, 20 Rescued).
School Status	Closed Indefinitely by order of the Director-General.
Lead Investigators	Engineering Council, GNFS, and Police.
Vice President's Stance	Demanded a forensic probe into permit approvals.

"We cannot wait for buildings to fall before we check their permits. This was a failure of the system, and those who approved or ignored this danger will be held to account." — Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang.