TEMA, Ghana, 8th October: The Secretary-General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), Abraham Koomson, has welcomed President John Dramani Mahama’s proposed National Housing Fund, but says the initiative will require committed, transparent and hardworking people to translate the vision into reality.
President Mahama has directed the Minister of Finance to allocate GH¢1 billion in the 2027 Budget as the government’s contribution towards a GH¢3 billion National Housing Fund.
The President explained that the money would be placed in the fund and made available on a revolving basis to finance housing projects and improve access to affordable housing in the country.
Speaking at the opening of the 2026 National Conference on Housing Finance in Accra on Wednesday, October 7, President Mahama said the government would explore innovative financing arrangements, including mortgage refinancing, rent-to-own schemes, employer-supported housing and partnerships with financial institutions and property developers.
Reacting to the proposal on Ahotor FM’s Adekyee Mu Nsem on Thursday, Mr Koomson said he supported the initiative but stressed that its success would depend largely on the commitment and integrity of those entrusted with its implementation.
He urged President Mahama to ensure that officials and institutions assigned responsibilities under the programme understood his vision and worked diligently and transparently to achieve its objectives.
Mr Koomson argued that previous interventions aimed at addressing Ghana’s housing challenges, including the National Rental Assistance Scheme, had not sufficiently resolved the problem, making it necessary for the government to adopt more effective approaches.
He proposed that housing units financed under the initiative should be constructed for organised institutions and credible organisations, which could then allocate them to their members, rather than leaving the process entirely to individuals.
According to him, such an arrangement could improve accountability and ensure that the intended beneficiaries, particularly ordinary workers, had a fair opportunity to access affordable accommodation.
“The money can be given to the Works and Housing Ministry or TDC to build the buildings in the name of an organisation so they will also give it out to their members, not individuals,” he said.
The labour leader cited the Saglemi Housing Project as an example of why the government needed to rethink its approach to housing delivery.
He accused the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of deliberately allowing the project to deteriorate by abandoning it during its eight years in office, arguing that the situation highlighted the consequences of failing to sustain important national development projects.
Mr Koomson maintained that completing housing projects and allocating the resulting units through organised institutions could provide a more practical way of addressing the accommodation needs of workers.
He acknowledged that housing affordability was a global challenge, citing the case of a woman aged over 80 who was reportedly evicted from her home in Spain. However, he cautioned against using similar situations in other countries to justify housing difficulties in Ghana.
According to him, the fact that housing challenges exist elsewhere does not mean Ghana should accept them as inevitable.
He described access to adequate housing as a matter of human dignity and a fundamental human right, as well as essential infrastructure for national development.
Mr Koomson therefore called on the government and relevant stakeholders to make a deliberate effort to ensure that ordinary Ghanaian workers had a realistic opportunity to own homes.
He expressed confidence in President Mahama’s intentions for the country, urging Ghanaians and those entrusted with implementing government policies to support the President in delivering on his housing agenda.
Mr Koomson said the proposed National Housing Fund presented an important opportunity to address the country’s housing deficit, but emphasised that the government would need the right people, effective implementation and transparency to achieve meaningful results.