The National Tenants Union has described the National Rental Assistance Scheme as a failure and a fraudulent scheme.
Secretary-General of the Union, Fredrick Opoku, says although the idea of the scheme was to pay rent advances for qualified applicants who are in the process of renting or renewing, it failed in achieving that.
He is alleging that the previous administration used the scheme to scam or defraud Ghanaians.
He is therefore appealing to President John Dramani Mahama to, with immediate effect, suspend the implementation of the scheme, investigate it, and restore it if necessary.
The National Rental Assistance Scheme was designed to pay rent advances to all qualified applicants who are renewing or renting a room, a flat or a whole house, but it failed to do so. The interest was staggering. Applicants had to pay a non-refundable application fee of Ghc100. This was a policy designed to defraud Ghanaians. According to their most recent report, 1492 people have benefited from the scheme after two years, with 30 million Ghana cedis invested.
There was no accountability. If 50,000 people applied, only 1,400 people benefited, implying that the over 40,000 others who applied and paid Ghc100 did not benefit from the scheme.”
Speaking to host Kwabena Agyapong on Frontline on Rainbow radio 87.5FM, he stated that the scheme was riddled with irregularities and that it would be prudent to suspend and investigate.
”How can you implement a policy in which the Minister and the private sector collude to defraud Ghanaians? Go ask those who applied but did not receive any benefits. The scheme used technicalities to deny several applicants.”
”Let us take this opportunity to state that the National Tenants Union participated in the policy’s launch. We praised and lauded them, but now we want to distance ourselves from this policy and declare it a failure that requires an immediate review.
President Mahama should issue an immediate order to suspend the Rental Assistance Scheme. If housing is a priority for President Mzhama, he should immediately suspend the scheme.”
He accused the previous government of failing to publish the names of those who benefited from the Rental Assistance Scheme.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
