Government stabbed cedi in the back by quoting affordable housing project in dollars - CenPOA

The Executive Director of the Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA), Michael Donyina Mensah, believes the government’s affordable housing projects are not affordable.

He claimed that these projects are purely commercial ventures undertaken by the government and its partners rather than an affordable housing initiative as promoted.

For him, affordable should imply that the people you intend to sell the houses to are those who can afford them.

"People who have the resources to build their own houses don’t need affordable housing,” he says. Those who are wealthy do not require it. I believe that affordable housing has been designed for the average worker. But the average Ghanaian worker cannot afford it. Examine the studio apartments for sale and their prices. An average worker who wants to buy a $13,000 flat would need to save Ghc1000 per month for ten years before he or she could afford the house.”

On Rainbow Radio 87.55FM’s Frontline, with host Kwabena Agyapong, he was asked how many average workers in Ghana can afford these houses.

”I believe they should remove the affordable housing tag from there because it is unaffordable and misleading. Because interest and inflation are not taken into account, it will take approximately 15 years to achieve this. So my point is that it is out of reach for most people.”

He also told the host that the price in dollars stabbed the cedi in the back.

He explained that the quotation in dollars is unfortunate for a country attempting to stabilise its local currency.

"It’s a disgrace that the prices for the affordable housing project are quoted in dollars. We are disappointed, as a centre, that a government that has encouraged Ghanaians to trade in cedis is quoting prices in dollars. That is a shot in the foot for the government, and we believe it has shown no commitment to encouraging Ghanaian businesses to trade in local currency in order to stabilise the cedi. Unfortunately, the government has not demonstrated that commitment,” he said.