President John Evans Atta Mills has ordered thorough investigations into the outbreak of fire at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Accra on Wednesday.

Police suspect arson in the fire which gutted the 10-floor edifice on and have arrested three men said to be security personnel.

President Mills toured the gutted building and was conducted round the premises – in the company of his Vice John Mahama. He said he is only interested in the truth.

“I am not interested in scapegoats. I am not interested in witch-hunting, I’m only interested in the truth,” the president said.

“And once the truth is unearthed, we’ll know how to deal with cases of this nature.”

The president however said paucity of equipment and “lack of preparedness” must be blamed for the extent to which the disaster struck.

Fire personnel called to the scene last night lacked the requisite equipment and had great difficulty putting out the fire.

Prof Mills promised the service would now be equipped to enable it handle fire outbreaks, adding: “We should be forward-looking and be able to plan against such eventualities.”

Arson attack

The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Mrs Rose Atinga Bio, suspects arsonists are behind the fire that gutted the building.

“It is arson, so we will investigate until the contrary is proven. There are so many theories that are flying all over; we will investigate all of them,” the police commander said.

Speaking to Joy News earlier Thursday, Mrs Atinga said three men found in the building shortly before the fire broke out have been arrested.

Sections of the first and sixth floors housing the minister’s office and the Public Affairs Department were the only offices that escaped the blaze.

Tags: arson, ghana news, investigation, ministry of foreign affairs, president mills, probe