African business mogul Sir Sam Jonah has challenged the Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) to abandon their “dreadful silence” and become a moral force.
He directly accused architects of “abdication of civic duty” in the face of national crises, including rampant corruption and illegal mining (galamsey).
Speaking at the GIA’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday, November 11, Sir Sam Jonah declared that the profession’s responsibilities do not end with design drawings but extend to “supervision of construction”, “integrity”, and “advocacy”.
The Architects’ Role in Collapse and Impunity
The business leader directly linked the profession’s passivity to a systemic failure in the built environment, citing the problem of shoddy construction and corner-cutting contractors.
“If a building collapses because a contractor cuts corners, it is not just the contractor who has failed—it is the system that allowed such impunity. And in that system, your silence is complicity.”
He stressed that architects are not merely designers; they are “custodians of standards, guardians of beauty, and defenders of public interest.” This requires actively speaking up when designs are diluted, drawings are ignored, or “unqualified hands are brought to execute” technical work.
The Environmental Crisis: Galamsey and the Built Environment
Sir Sam Jonah went further, criticising the GIA’s failure to raise a collective voice against the destructive impact of galamsey, which poisons Ghana’s land and water resources—the very foundation of the built environment.
“Where was your collective voice when galamsey—illegal mining—began to desecrate our rivers, poison our soil, and endanger communities? What has more impact on the built environment than the destruction of the very land on which we build?”
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He argued that the destruction of Ghana’s soil, timber, and clay resources not only has devastating environmental consequences but also undermines any future drive toward sustainable, local architecture.
Internal Failures and Political Interference
The criticism also targeted the Institute’s internal governance and political engagement.
Sir Sam Jonah reminded the GIA of its deafening silence when its own rules were “blatantly ignored” and “contracts were awarded apparently exclusively to firms with no legal basis to practise in this country.”
“Your silence then was deafening. You cannot buy back your history. You must strike when the iron is hot or be remembered only as a footnote in history for cowardice, carelessness or complicity.”
He concluded by urging the GIA to move away from being “technical assistants” to acting as “ethical leaders”.
“Silence in the face of abuse is not professionalism—it is abdication… Urban planning is guided by people and planet, not by the whims of private developers and the spineless who do their bidding for kickbacks.”
Silence is Complicity: The Failure of Professional Bodies
Sir Sam Jonah questioned the moral courage of the professional body, drawing a sharp contrast with historical precedents where professional associations were instrumental in safeguarding national values.
“In the history of our country, professional bodies have not just shaped their craft and rules—they have shaped the nation… Where is that moral courage today?”
He asserted that when corruption erodes the nation, the silence of learned professionals amounts to complicity, warning that “If the learned and gainfully employed ones like us are unwilling or unable to speak up against wrongdoing in every shape and form, who do we expect to do it…?”