The General Secretary of the National Tenants Union Ghana, Fredrick Opoku, has posited that Ghanaian tenants lack knowledge of rent laws and regulations due to inadequate public education.
He claimed that while the Rent Control Department’s inaction is partially to blame, the larger issue is that previous governments failed to provide them with the resources they required.
Mr. Opoku said that the majority of tenants and landlords are unaware of the laws, and it was the Rent Control’s responsibility to conduct public education, but they have failed to do so.
‘’The majority of tenants and landlords are ignorant of the law, and the responsibility of Rent Control is to organise workshops and public education so Ghanaians will understand the rent laws, but this is something Rent Control is not doing. We have a whole department called Rent Control. When was the last time you saw them organise any public education?’’
The General Secretary also acknowledged that the department is ill-resourced, so he will not blame them that much.
‘’The Rent Department is under-resourced, and previous governments thought housing was not an important matter to deal with,’’ he said.
On the issue of affordable housing, he argued that the price range is prohibitively expensive for Ghanaians, and only politicians can afford these homes.
‘We’ve had governments come and go who believed they could build these so-called affordable housing and sell one-bedroom apartments for $20,800, two-bedroom apartments for $34,000, and three-bedroom apartments for around $45,000. Then they will come and tell you it’s affordable housing. Who finds it affordable? To themselves. So Ghanaians are not treated fairly. The citizens have sovereign rights, but they do not benefit from them.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
