New MD for SHC after Ankrah’s dismissal

The State Housing Company (SHC) has a new interim Managing Director, Isaac Nai, who is the Manager in charge of Finance and Administration.

Nai’s appointment follows the dismissal of MD Dr Mark Nii Akwei Ankrah for alleged financial malfeasance.

Dr Ankrah was sacked after workers of the company filed a petition against him at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.

He allegedly was using Ghc36,000 of company funds to pay his phone bills every month.

This means Dr Ankrah was paid Ghc432,000 annually for phone bills, if the petition of the aggrieved workers is anything to go by.

The Ministry has put together a three-member Committee to investigate the allegations against Dr Ankrah, who was appointed in 2009.

The Committee has a month to complete its work and present a report.

Building houses and flats for the people of Ghana is the main preoccupation of the State Housing Company Limited. It has been doing so since its inception in 1956 when it was called Gold Coast Housing Corporation and operated as the main housing development agency of the Government.

In July 1995, the State Housing Corporation was converted to a limited liability company and now operates as a fully-fledged commercial enterprise.

According to its website, the Company has, over the years, “achieved impressive landmarks in the real estate industry by providing affordable and quality housing estates. We have an enviable reputation for being the only real estate developer operating all over the country.”

The site said: “State Housing Company Limited is committed to the objective of nationwide profitable and housing agency, which makes housing easily accessible to institutions and individual Ghanaians at home and abroad.

“It is Ghana’s leading land developer and operates in a manner that contributes directly to the orderly and efficient development of the country’s housing sector. This is effectively achieved through our reorganised operational structure which groups the regions into five zones. Head Office, Eastern, Western, Ashanti, and Northern.”