The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government and Decentralisation, Queenstar Pokuah Sawyerr, has tasked the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to take immediate steps to crack down on unauthorised billboards and signboards along major roads in the capital.
She said the huge number of such structures had become a disturbing menace, obstructing motorists’ views and posing a threat to road safety.
“I think your biggest problem is those who put unauthorised billboards and signboards along our roads because when you are driving these structures block your view from seeing next car ahead of you or approaching you,” she said.
Appearance
Mrs Sawyerr raised the concern when officials of the AMA, led by its Chief Executive, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, appeared before the committee on Tuesday (Oct 6) to respond to a number of financial infractions contained in the 2025 Auditor-General’s reports on the assembly.
The issue of unauthorised billboards and signboards came up during discussions on what steps the AMA had taken to rid the capital of unauthorised structures and restore the beauty of road medians.
Deal with them
Mrs Sawyerr said one of the biggest challenges facing beautification and road safety in the capital was the presence of unauthorised billboards and signboards along major roads.
She, therefore, urged the AMA to focus on billboards and signboards mounted along road medians, saying some of them were positioned in ways that made it difficult for motorists to see clearly.
The MP for Agona East said the situation had become a concern for motorists, with several complaints from people who had experienced difficulties driving around parts of Accra because of structures obstructing their views.
Mrs Sawyerr also urged the AMA not to focus mainly on petty traders using tables along the medians, but rather deal with containers and other permanent unauthorised structures in the streets.
She argued that traders using tables were often the least of the assembly’s problems, stressing that the presence of containers and other unauthorised structures created an environment that encouraged more people to occupy the road medians.
“So for those on tabletops, they should be the least of your problem because tabletops are the poor that they are being thrown out for no good reason.
“If there are no containers and there are no structures, the person will not gather the courage to put a tabletop there and so the most important thing for me that I would advise is that a lot of the signboards and billboards and things that blocks the view of those driving especially should be dealt with,” she said.
She added: “So deal with the billboards and those putting on unauthorised signboards and things without your permission.”
We’re taking action
Responding, Mr Allotey said the AMA had formed a team to assist the assembly in dealing with the challenge.
“We have already begun removing some unauthorised billboards and signboards within road median and we do not need to give notice to the owners since they do not have permission,” he said.
He said the assembly had observed that attempts to notify owners of unauthorised structures before removing them often gave them the opportunity to mobilise people to resist the exercise.
“One thing I have noticed is that anytime you want to do any work within the city and you write to give notification, the date that you give to do work becomes difficult because they will mobilise people there to prevent you,” he said.
Mr Allotey explained that the assembly was also taking steps to relocate traders from road medians as part of efforts to restore greenery and beautify major roads in the city.
He said the assembly inherited a situation in which hawkers sold at several locations across the city and that the administration had adopted a more humane approach to dealing with the problem.
He said instead of simply driving the traders away, the assembly had begun moving them from the streets and creating designated spaces where they could operate.
“I move them off the street. I am giving them the red line to sell behind the red lines and so that is the first phase,” he said.
