The Minister-Designate for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has highlighted the dire state of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), revealing that the Service has not procured a single fire tender in nearly a decade.
During his vetting before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Friday, January 24, Muntaka expressed deep concern over the lack of resources and chronic neglect that have hampered the efficiency of the GNFS.
The Asawase Member of Parliament pointed to the decade-long failure to acquire new fire tenders as a major contributing factor to the challenges faced by firefighters across the country.
This neglect, he said, has left officers ill-equipped to respond effectively to emergencies, often risking public safety and exposing firefighters to unfair criticism from frustrated citizens.
Muntaka painted a grim picture of the state of the GNFS, citing the use of aging and unreliable equipment as a significant barrier to its operations.
He described how the lack of investment in fire tenders and other essential tools has left firefighters struggling to perform their duties under increasingly difficult conditions.
“No fire tender has been procured in the last nine or almost ten years. So what it means is that you and I are using vehicles, even our vehicles that do not carry the kind of load that the GNFS work entails. After ten years, how easy is it to use that vehicle? You wake up and come, try to start it, it will not respond.
“But that is the kind of obsolete equipment that we have left them with and we expect them to be able to use it. And sometimes too unfortunately, we the citizens out of emotions, we try to even beat the fire officers houses because they have run to the place, then they are trying to start their gadgets.”
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