Development Without Destruction: Preserve Our Public Institutions While Building the 24-Hour Economy

The government's proposed 24-hour economy has been widely presented as a transformative policy aimed at stimulating economic growth, creating employment, and expanding commercial opportunities across Ghana. If effectively implemented, the initiative has the potential to improve productivity and strengthen local economies. However, the pursuit of this vision should not come at the expense of critical public institutions that continue to serve communities.

Reports and discussions suggesting that existing schools, court buildings, and other government facilities could be demolished to make way for new markets under the 24-hour economy programme have raised legitimate concerns. While markets are indispensable to commerce and local development, they should not replace institutions that provide equally essential public services.

Schools are more than physical structures. They are centres of learning where the nation's future leaders are nurtured. Court buildings are symbols of justice and the rule of law, while other government facilities provide vital public services that sustain communities. Demolishing such institutions simply to create space for markets raises serious questions about planning, prioritisation, and the efficient use of public resources.

Ghana is blessed with vast stretches of undeveloped land in many communities. Where additional market infrastructure is needed, acquiring suitable new sites should be the preferred option. This approach would allow both markets and existing public institutions to coexist and function effectively, rather than forcing one to disappear for the other to emerge.

This debate is not without precedent. When the previous administration demolished existing state structures to pave the way for the proposed National Cathedral project, many Ghanaians criticised the decision. The objections were not solely directed at the cathedral itself but also at the principle of destroying functioning public facilities instead of identifying an alternative site. Many argued that the National Cathedral, regardless of its perceived importance, should have been constructed on new land rather than replacing existing government infrastructure.

The same reasoning deserves consideration today. Public policy should be guided by consistency rather than political convenience. Those who opposed the demolition of public facilities then should be equally concerned now if schools, courts, or other public buildings are threatened for market construction. Likewise, those who defended the earlier demolitions should acknowledge that preserving functioning public institutions remains a matter of national interest.

The issue extends beyond politics. It is about responsible planning and sustainable development. Development should add value to communities, not deprive them of essential services. A new market cannot replace a school that educates children, nor can it perform the functions of a court that delivers justice or an office that provides government services.

True national development is complete only when there is visible expansion of infrastructure across every sector and in every part of the country. Development should mean adding new schools, markets, hospitals, courts, roads, and other public facilities—not replacing one essential institution with another. Continually demolishing existing public infrastructure merely to erect new structures in the same location diminishes the very essence of expansion and gives the impression of substitution rather than genuine growth. If the 24-hour economy is truly intended to accelerate Ghana's development, then it must be implemented through expansion, not destruction. This practice of pulling down functional public institutions for replacement should therefore stop immediately.

Unless the government can convincingly demonstrate that the affected structures have become obsolete, unsafe, or permanently redundant, there is little justification for replacing them with market facilities. Public infrastructure represents significant investments made with taxpayers' money and should not be discarded when practical alternatives exist.

The success of the 24-hour economy will depend not only on the number of markets that are built but also on the quality of planning behind the programme. A well-conceived development strategy should accommodate commercial expansion while preserving institutions that remain valuable to society.

Ghana's development agenda should never force citizens to choose between education and commerce, between justice and business, or between public service and economic activity. The nation has enough space to achieve both objectives.

The government should therefore reconsider any plans that involve demolishing schools, courts, or other functioning public institutions for market construction. Let markets be built where land is available, while existing public facilities continue to serve the people for whom they were established.

Development is most meaningful when it builds upon existing strengths rather than destroying them. Ghana can pursue a vibrant 24-hour economy without sacrificing the institutions that educate its children, uphold justice, and provide essential public services.

The Trial News