A portion of the Akim Oda’s Chief’s Palace in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region has collapsed.
The incident comes four days after the Akim Oda Central Market was razed by fire.
There have been cracks in the building for which passers-by have been cautioned not to go close to the structure.
The structure keeps weakening and chieftaincy disputes between rival chiefs over who sits on the throne of the Akyem Kotoku Paramountcy for the past 25 years has left the palace desserts.
Scores of residents who spoke said the cracks on the palace had become apparent, and that they were certain that the building would soon collapse especially with the onset of the rains.
According to the indigenous, efforts were made to ensure that no one went close to the structure.
A resident said, “From the morning to this afternoon, we made efforts to ensure that children do not walk near the place due to the cracks we had seen for some time now.”
Another resident said, “we have known about the cracks for a long time now, and it increasingly becoming dangerous. Just this afternoon we were going about our normal duties when we heard a loud sound, and it was the palace that had completely collapsed.”
The Assembly Member for Aseneye Old Town electoral area, Papa Yaw Amoah, said the palace must be immediately pulled down to ensure the safety of residents.
“We saw the dangers about two weeks ago. I am from the palace, and so I decided to inform NADMO, but they did not act swiftly. They said they were writing to the state council on the matter”.
He said” I called the MCE yesterday [Wednesday], and told him about the possibility of the building collapsing. Out of my pocket, I bought warning tapes and taped the building to warn passers-by about the dangers and that is what has saved us, otherwise, there would have been casualties. I want authorities to pull down the entire structure because it is currently a major threat to residents”.
BY Daniel Bampoe