President Mahama Headlines Governance Drive as Administration Targets Housing, Agriculture, and Urban Mobility Reforms

President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a high-level National Conference on Housing Finance in Accra, marking a significant step in his administration’s efforts to tackle Ghana's housing deficit. The two-day event, organized by the National Homeownership Fund as part of World Habitat Day 2026 activities, focuses on innovative financing mechanisms to expand access to affordable housing. President Mahama emphasized the need to tackle high construction costs and limited long-term financing options. This initiative coincides with a broader push by the government to reform public services, ranging from urban transport management and road safety technology to a structural overhaul of agricultural financing and public procurement laws.

In the transport sector, the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has issued a firm directive to the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executive (GAPTE). The Minister ordered strict adherence to advertised schedules for the Aayalolo Bus Rapid Transit service within its new contra-flow system. Operating during peak hours (6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.), the system allows buses to travel against standard traffic flow to bypass congestion on major corridors such as Amasaman, Adentan, and Kasoa. Ayariga emphasized that punctuality is essential to establishing a reliable transportation culture, drawing parallels to efficient global systems to improve the daily commute for residents in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.

Legislative focus has also turned sharply toward food security and agricultural infrastructure. Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, Chairman of Parliament’s Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs Committee, has demanded a clear financing plan for the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam and Irrigation Project ahead of the 2027 Budget presentation. Highlighting the inadequacy of previous budgetary allocations, Dr. Jasaw proposed the establishment of a National Agriculture Development Fund to provide sustainable capital for the sector. This call follows a significant turnaround at the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO), which reported moving from a GH¢20 million debt to a profit of over GH¢96 million in 2025. Complementing these efforts, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson is proposing reforms to procurement laws that would mandate public institutions to source food from local farmers, potentially redirecting the GH¢3 billion feeding budget of the Free SHS program to support domestic production.

Addressing public safety, the government is preparing to launch the Traffitech-GH SMS spot-fine system on November 1, 2026. This technology-driven initiative, utilizing camera systems provided through a public-private partnership, aims to curb a worrying rise in road fatalities, which reached 2,949 deaths in 2025 compared to 2,494 the previous year. While the system promises more transparent enforcement by sending traffic violation notices directly to motorists via SMS, analysts have stressed the need for better public sensitization and improved underlying infrastructure. Collectively, these developments reflect a multi-sectoral strategy by the Mahama administration to leverage technology and institutional reform to drive national development.