Frederick Opoku, Acting Rent Commissioner of Ghana, has indicated that his outfit is ill-resourced and struggling to smoothly deliver on its mandate.
In an interview with GhanaWeb aired on April 9, 2026, Frederick Opoku disclosed that the Rent Control Department has a staff strength of under 200 across the country, a situation he says is causing significant pressure on workers who are often overworked.
“Rent control is ill-resourced. It is deplorable. It is sad. It is worrying. Staffing is an issue. Some offices, you need to have about five people but you have two and people have to overwork,” he said.
According to the Acting Rent Commissioner, before his appointment to the position, he was highly critical of the department and had used strong, unprintable language to describe its challenges.
He noted that upon taking office, he felt compelled to apologise for his earlier remarks, stressing that his experience has given him a clearer picture of the situation.
According to him, Rent Control is struggling and has very little to show in terms of resources and operational capacity.
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He added that officers within the department are willing to work effectively but are constrained by a lack of basic logistics needed to perform their duties.
He further explained that in cases where property owners approach the office to report or seek approval for rent increments and assessments, they are often required to cater for the transportation of Rent Control officers.
He warned that this arrangement creates room for corruption and undermines proper professional judgment during property assessments.
“The guys want to do things, no vehicle, nothing to work with. They are supposed to do assessment. So if somebody comes to the office and he draws your attention that maybe I want to increase my rent, and we are very serious about increment and assessing. So how does the person go to assess? The tenant or the landlord has to pay the transport. That is a platform to corrupt the people,” he stated.
Opoku further noted that since his appointment as commissioner, there are clear signs that the current government led by President John Dramani Mahama is committed to resourcing the department.
He expressed optimism that ongoing efforts by the ministry will improve the situation significantly.
He added that authorities are doing everything humanly possible to properly resource Rent Control and expressed confidence that in the coming years, the department will no longer be described as ill-resourced as it is today.
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AK/BAI
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