Justina Ruby Anipa, a retired Town and country planner, believes the entire Ashaiman enclave is an urban sprawl community that needs to be demolished and rebuilt.

In an interview with Kafui Dey, she explained that the Ashaiman township was never properly planned before it developed into a settlement.

According to her, the area was put up by the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) and was originally described as a dormitory town because workers building the Tema Harbour only slept in Ashaiman and returned to Tema to work.

Ashai's town: History behind the name Ashaiman

“Ashaiman wasn’t planned. It was planned by TDC. At that time, Ashaiman was a dormitory town for the workers who were building the Tema Harbour. Dormitory town meaning when they worked in Tema, they went to sleep there,” she said.

When asked if Ashaiman can be fixed despite its poor planning, she insisted that the entire town would need to be torn down and rebuilt. “You have to demolish the whole place,” she noted.

On whether rebuilding vertically would solve the issue, the retired planner explained that the land is low-lying, which makes high-rise construction difficult because it requires very deep foundations.

She added that this is part of the reason Accra does not have many storey buildings, even though more high-rise structures are now being put up. She expressed concern about what this could mean for the future. “People are doing it now, and I don’t know what will happen.”

Justina Ruby Anipa also pointed out that parts of Accra lie within earthquake-prone zones, which present additional risks.

“Accra itself has an earthquake zone passing through certain portions of it, so we have problems. The 1939 earthquake affected parts of the beach area, and small shocks still occur. These are warning signs. Then there’s the Weija area, McCarthy Hill, Weija. That’s also an earthquake zone,” she said.

Watch the video below:

Ashaiman was not planned, the whole place has to be demolished and fixed - Mrs. Justina Ruby Anipa, Retired Town & Country Planner

Full interview here https://t.co/UQXA50vlbA pic.twitter.com/JTKIvDQ6rh

— Kafui Dey (@KafuiDey) December 4, 2025