The Ministry of Works and Housing has formally invited private proposals for the completion and operationalisation of the Saglemi Affordable Housing Project.

Commencing in 2012, the Saglemi Housing Project has faced considerable delays due to concerns raised by the government regarding its contract sum.

The Ministry has set a deadline of July 9 to 15, 2024, for the submission of proposals, with an evaluation process to follow.

Addressing the media, Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah expressed optimism in finding a private partner by August 30, 2024, to alleviate the country's housing deficit.

He conveyed the government's commitment to reversing the trend of abandoned projects from previous administrations, citing the Saglemi project as a prime example.

Highlighting the urgency of completing such projects to spur future developments, Mr Nkrumah underscored the significance of addressing Ghana's housing shortfall, which stands at 1.8 million units.

He stressed that failure to complete ongoing projects could discourage future initiatives, underscoring the importance of seizing the opportunity to reverse this pattern.

“Ghanaians want the phenomenon of uncompleted or abandoned mass housing projects to end. Today, some of the projects from the Kufuor era are still uncompleted and hanging and this one [Saglemi] is still yet to be completed and adds to the narrative that we don’t finish projects when we start", Mr Nkrumah lamented.

He said: “If you have a housing deficit of 1.8 million that we are trying to reduce as the years go by, already, there are about 40,000 units that we deliver yearly as a country and it is not enough to close the gap, so, if all of these projects keep hanging out there, it will even deter future projects from being embarked upon, and that is why we take advantage of this opportunity to reverse this trend.”