Interior Minister-designate Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak has expressed grave concern over the state of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), revealing that the Service has not procured any new fire tenders in nearly a decade.
During his vetting before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on January 24, Muntaka emphasized how the lack of resources and chronic neglect have hindered the GNFS’s effectiveness.
He pointed to the decade-long failure to replace outdated fire tenders as a key factor affecting the Service’s ability to respond effectively to emergencies, leaving officers poorly equipped and public safety at risk.
Muntaka criticized the use of aging and unreliable equipment, stating that this has not only hampered the Service’s operations but also led to unjust criticism from the public.
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.”
