US-based Ghanaian legal scholar, Kwaku Azar, has questioned the practice of teachers inviting students to their bungalows to perform domestic chores, arguing that Ghana’s problem is not the absence of laws but the failure to enforce existing rules.

In a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb on Friday, October 23, 2026, Azar reacted to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service’s (GES) announcement of plans to prohibit teachers from asking students to undertake household chores at their residences.

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He pointed out that the practice was already prohibited under the GES Code of Conduct, suggesting that the latest announcement was a reminder of an existing rule rather than the introduction of a new prohibition.

Azar said the development reflected a recurring pattern in Ghana, where authorities appear to revisit existing laws only after incidents of misconduct attract public attention.

“This is becoming a familiar feature of our national life,” he wrote, describing a situation in which laws are enacted but violations persist because enforcement is weak.

According to him, authorities often respond to disturbing incidents with warnings and promises of action, but the attention eventually fades and the same violations continue.

“For a few days, we pretend to comply. The authorities issue warnings, the media report them, enforcement teams become visible, and officials promise that offenders will be dealt with,” Azar stated.

He added that the situation often returns to normal once public attention shifts, until another incident forces authorities to act again.

Azar cited other areas, including sanitation, road traffic regulations and restrictions on preaching and hawking in moving commercial vehicles, as examples of rules that exist but are not consistently enforced.

He attributed the problem partly to corruption, political interference, inadequate resources and weak institutional accountability, arguing that officials responsible for enforcing laws must also face consequences when they fail to perform their duties.

“The real problem is not simply that people break the law. It is that those entrusted with enforcing the law can routinely fail to do so without consequences,” he wrote.

Azar called for continuous enforcement, stronger institutions and measures to prevent political and personal influence from interfering with the application of the law.

He maintained that Ghana could not address recurring violations through public announcements and reminders alone, stressing the need for existing rules to be enforced consistently.

“A country cannot be governed by reminders. It must be governed by laws that are consistently enforced,” he stated.

ANAS/VPO

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