North east gonja: Some staff of the North East Gonja District Assembly in the Savannah Region have been compelled to work under a mango tree as the construction of the district's office complex, initiated in 2020, has stalled. The district, established in 2019 after being carved out of East Gonja, has only managed to provide dedicated office spaces for its top four officers: the District Chief Executive, District Coordinating Director, District Finance Officer, and District Planning Officer.
According to Ghana Web, all other staff are conducting their daily work in the open air, facing numerous challenges. A staff member expressed concerns about productivity, stating, "This is where most of the staff who come to work sit for their daily schedules. Sitting under the tree to do your daily routine is challenging for us. It brings low productivity in the districts, and then you have to be assessed alongside other districts, which doesn't help."
The situation echoes Ghana's broader issue of 'schools under trees,' which has been identified as a crisis requiring urgent action. With 80% of such schools located in the northern parts of Ghana, the problem extends beyond education, affecting governance and administration as well.
The District Chief Executive, Abdul Mumin Ewuntomah, mentioned that the lack of office space has led to a shift system for officers. "For now, my officers operate under the tree. Most of them, when they come, they don't have spaces to sit in the offices. Because of that, some of them don't even come," he explained. This predicament highlights the need for completed infrastructure to ensure efficient administrative operations in the district.