Reports reaching Joy News are that parts of the Parliament office building complex popularly called Job 600 has caught fire.

According to Joy News' Parliamentary correspondent, Joseph Opoku Gakpo, personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service personnel had to climb up the 10th floor using the staircase to quench the fire.

Reports indicate personnel of the Fire Service does not have the equipment to fight fire beyond the fourth floor and with suggestions that the fire is on the 10th floor, they are struggling to bring the fire under control.

Some MPs who were upstairs working when the fire started at about 6:30 pm Tuesday, are reported to have rushed downstairs to safety with their staff.

So far there is no report of any fatalities and there is no confirmation how many offices have been gutted by fire.

According to the reporter, one cannot find any sign of fire from the outside but the electricity in the whole building has been put off leaving the building pitch-black.

The PRO of the Fire Service David Anaglate tells Joy News initial investigations shows that an electrical fault may have started the fire. 

He said his men are working hard to bring the fire under control. 

Background

Job 600 is a post-independence a government building in Accra which is just behind the Parliament House and was commissioned by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, in 1965.

In 2007 the John Kufuor administration secured a loan facility of a $25 million from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for the renovation of the structure.

Government stated that upon completion the new Job 600 would serve as an office complex to house the Members of the Ghanaian Parliament.

The cost of the project was initially estimated at $62.8 million. In 2011, the estimate for renovating the building was adjusted upwards by 39 million dollars. The increased cost was due to inflation.

On May 2012, months prior to completion, a fire broke out on the fifth floor of the building.

Witnesses reported that the fire started in the early hours of the morning. It took several minutes before firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service were able to bring it under control.

The build was officially inaugurated by John Dramani Mahama on November 2015