Sunyani Circuit Court and District Magistrate Court ‘B’ after the outbreak
Two months after a midnight inferno destroyed the Sunyani Circuit Court and District Magistrate Court ‘B’, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) is yet to disclose the cause of the blaze.
On Sunday, April 26, 2026, at around 1:00 a.m., a devastating fire swept through the court complex. The blaze destroyed vital documents, files, computers, registers, judges’ chambers, the cashier’s office, courtrooms, and the bailiff’s section. Eyewitnesses say it took GNFS personnel eight hours to bring the fire under control, a delay they blame on water shortages.
Litigants whose cases were pending were left in tears as courtrooms were reduced to ashes and debris. Since then, judicial activity has stalled.
Court staffs now operate from a cramped General Office at the High Court, described as “temporary and too small.” Two rooms at the Sunyani Municipal Social Welfare Department have been allocated, but no sittings have resumed.
Despite the scale of the destruction, GNFS has not released any findings on what caused the fire.
The current Bono Regional Commander, ACFO II Robert Attah Kumi, told this paper he had just resumed office and had “no knowledge of the incident.” When asked about handover notes, he said he was yet to review them. His predecessor, ACFO I Cecil Addo, who spoke to journalists at the scene, has since been transferred.
Citing GNFS policy, ACFO II Kumi said only the national headquarters is mandated to speak on fire investigations. “Investigations take time… we must finish, send the report to headquarters, then we will know the cause,” he stated. Attempts to reach DO II Desmond Ackah, Head of Public Relations at GNFS, have not yielded a response.
A source within the Fire Service told this paper that “criminality is involved, hence the delay in releasing the report.”
The Police are also silent. The Bono Regional Police Commander was unavailable, with officials citing travel and meetings. However, a police source said investigations had been completed and pointed to arson.
According to the source, investigators found evidence of combustible materials, including an empty petrol container and a matchbox, at the scene. The Police are, however, waiting for GNFS to take the lead in publishing the report, since it falls under their remit.
The Bono Regional Administrative Officer of the Judiciary has also been unreachable after a reported transfer to the Northern Region. At the Commercial High Court, Court Service Officer Jamima Yeboah Amankwa said nothing further had been communicated since April 26. She added that any enquiries must be backed by a letter and directed to Accra.
Until GNFS speaks, the cause of the fire that crippled justice delivery in Bono and Ahafo remains a mystery — and the silence is costing public trust.
Sources indicates that after the Parliamentary Select Committee on Judiciary visited the scene and there is not even a provisional report provided by the fire service.
BY Daniel Dayee