The Ahafo Regional Minister, Hon. (Mrs.) Charity Gardiner, on Monday, 27th October 2025, inaugurated Municipal and District Spatial Planning Committees at a brief ceremony held at the Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council (AhRCC) Conference Room, Goaso. The initiative forms part of government’s effort to strengthen land use administration, promote orderly development and ensure compliance with the national spatial planning framework.
The event brought together officials from the Municipal and District Assemblies, traditional authorities and technical stakeholders to mark a significant step toward co-ordinated development control and sustainable urban growth within the Ahafo Region.
Welcoming participants to the ceremony, the Acting Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr. Joseph Frimpong Naayo commended the Municipal and District Assemblies, the Physical Planning Department, traditional authorities and all partner institutions for working collaboratively towards the establishment of the committees.
He stated that spatial planning is not a ceremonial requirement but a practical governance tool that determines
how cities expand, how investments are protected and how communities are made liveable and resilient. Mr. Naayo emphasized that without effective planning, Assemblies are likely to face recurring issues such as encroachment on public lands, traffic congestion, disorderly construction, environmental degradation and costly demolitions. He therefore charged committee members to bring technical discipline, neutrality and integrity to the discharge of their duties, noting that the outcomes of their decisions will shape the physical and economic character of the Region for decades.
He further assured the committee members that the RCC will provide the needed administrative coordination,
documentation support and monitoring to ensure that the committees do not exist in name only but function
effectively to achieve their intended purpose
Hon. Nii Lante Vanderpuye, National Co-ordinator for the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), who
was in the Region as part of his routine monitoring programme, also added his voice to the discussions. He noted
that effective spatial planning is inseparable from road development and stressed that poor planning often results
in costly realignments, land compensation disputes and delays in road construction. He appealed to the committees to work proactively with road sector agencies to ensure that right-of-ways are protected and that settlement layouts make future road expansion feasible and economical. He further pledged the commitment of
DRIP to collaborate with the Assemblies and the spatial planning structures to promote orderly and accessible
road networks across the Region.
The ceremony also included the formal swearing-in of members of the Municipal and District Spatial Planning Committees. The Hon. Regional Minister, Mrs. Charity Gardiner, who doubles as Chairperson of the Regional Spatial Planning Committee, administered the Oath of Allegiance, the Oath of Secrecy and the Official Oath to
the members. She reminded them that the oaths bind them legally and ethically to act with confidentiality, impartiality and fidelity to the laws governing spatial planning. The Hon. Regional Minister stressed that their future decisions will directly influence the character of settlements, the protection of public lands and the credibility of local governance, and therefore demanded discipline, professionalism and strict adherence to planning regulations.
She cautioned that the Assemblies can no longer afford unregulated construction, encroachment on road corridors, or development that disregards environmental and safety considerations.
The Hon. Regional Minister expressed confidence that the newly inaugurated committees, if diligent in their work, will significantly enhance development control and reinforce public trust in local governance.
Touching on the legal framework, the Regional Minister referenced the Land Use and Spatial Planning framework and cited the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925) as the legal authority underpinning the work of the committees. She stressed that the mandate of the committees is statutory, not ceremonial, and that non-compliance with the Act carries legal consequences for both Assemblies and individual officers.
In conclusion, Hon. (Mrs.) Gardiner reaffirmed government’s commitment to strengthening land governance and called on all stakeholders such as Assemblies, traditional authorities, developers and regulatory institutions to support the committees to ensure that the Ahafo Region grows in an orderly, safe and sustainable manner. She reminded the newly sworn-in members that their performance will ultimately be judged by the quality of
development they permit or prevent.
The Dean of MDCEs in the Region, Mr. Benjamin Donkor Assabil, expressed appreciation to the Regional Minister for spearheading the inauguration. He noted that the absence of fully constituted spatial planning committees had posed challenges to orderly development at the local level, and therefore described the
inauguration as timely and responsive to a long-standing governance need. He assured the Minister of the commitment of the MDCEs to cooperate with the committees to ensure that planning decisions are respected and enforced across all Assemblies.
