The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Dzifa Gomashie, has called for the immediate removal of unauthorised structures encroaching on Ghana’s forts and castles, warning that continued development around the historic sites poses a serious threat to the country’s cultural heritage.
Ms Gomashie said several heritage sites were under increasing pressure from illegal developments, including structures erected within designated buffer zones intended to protect the historic monuments.
She made the call at a symposium on the Korea-Ghana Heritage Project in Accra, where she stressed that efforts to remove the structures must be accompanied by sustained engagement with communities living around the heritage sites.
According to the Minister, community involvement was essential to ensuring the success of heritage preservation initiatives. She said residents were more likely to support the protection of historic sites when they understood their cultural and historical significance.
“Often, we leave out the engagement with the community. And so they don’t see the importance of why our, for example, call for the demolition of illegal structures around the forts and castles,” she said.
Ms Gomashie described the scale of encroachment at some heritage sites as alarming and urged stakeholders to act urgently to prevent further deterioration.
“If I show you pictures of the encroachment on the buffer for the forts and castles, you will join me in doing Aluta,” she said.
The Minister emphasised that the responsibility for protecting Ghana’s heritage could not rest solely with the government. She called for stronger collaboration among traditional authorities, local communities, state institutions and other stakeholders to address encroachment and strengthen the protection of the country’s historic sites.
She said such collective efforts were necessary to safeguard Ghana’s forts, castles and other cultural heritage assets for future generations.
