Tenants decry arbitrary rent increases

Berekum (B/A), Feb. 28, GNA - Aggrieved residents in Berekum have appealed to the authorities to stem the rate at which some landlords and landladies in the Berekum Municipality arbitrarily increase their rent. Mr Jonas Gyamfi, a 26 year-old laboratory technician at the Presbyterian Hospital in Dormaa Ahenkro, alleged in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that it had been the practice of some landlords to threaten poor tenants with ejection if they failed to succumb to arbitrary increases in rent.

He said in some cases, depending on the type of building, a house owne= r would eject a tenant after collecting huge rent advance from a company that wanted the house for its workers. "What beats my imagination is the fact that this practice has been going on for years but officials at the local rent control office have continued to close their eyes to the practice," Mr Gyamfi said. Mr Gyamfi alleged that in some houses the landlords exploited tenants to pay higher bills than the bill presented by the utility company. "And woe betides any tenant who will challenge the authenticity of t= he bill as the house-owner will adopt any strategy to eject the so-called 91t= oo known' tenant(s) from the house," he added.

He noted that since it was not possible for all workers to put up thei= r own houses either during their working time or after, it was imperative for state organisations such as the rent control office to seriously check the activities of landlords to save the poor worker.