Choggu low-cost residents Association appeals to President

Tamale, Sept. 1, GNA - The Choggu Low-cost Residents Association in Tamale has appealed to the President to intervene to save sitting tenants of government residential accommodation in the Metropolis from forced eviction by the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC). At a news conference on the sale of government bungalows and low-cost houses, in Tamale on Saturday, the Association said the NRCC was ignoring the government's directive that sitting tenants should be given the priority in the sale of such accommodation.

The Association, whose membership is mainly Civil and Public Servants, said the NRCC had instead written to the district assemblies whom it had identified as "sitting tenants" and given priority, to purchase the houses.

It said when it called on the office of the Regional Coordinating Director on the issue the Regional Coordinator explained that there had been a change in the entire process and that the district assemblies had been identified as sitting tenants and had therefore been given the priority to acquire the houses.

The Association told journalists that when it asked how the change had come about, the Coordinating Director replied that it was a directive from the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing. On whether the changes were nation-wide, the Association said the Coordinating Director responded that he was dealing with the Northern Region and could not tell what was happening in other regions. The Association said media reports indicated that the sale of the houses to sitting tenants had started in other regions, including the Upper West, Volta, Western, Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.

The Association said the action of the NRCC "diametrically contradicts and circumvents the good intentions of the government's affordable housing policy".

It said: "The true spirit of the sale exercise is to reward Civil Servants who have Worked all their lives and probably, are not able to afford their own accommodation after retirement". "Now the NRCC is determined to give these houses to the fabulously rich, contractors, relatives and politicians who want to purchase them, pull them down and put up mansions as guest houses to make more money at the expense of the dedicated poor Civil Servant..." the Association charged.

The Association reminded the NRCC that the sale exercise went through a parliamentary approval with a specific mandate, which gave priority to sitting tenants.

"If, on the other hand, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing is changing the mandate of the whole exercise, then it should be taken back to Parliament for approval", it said. Two other associations, the Bagabaga Low-cost Residents' Association and Kalpohin Low-cost Tenants' Association, who were at the news conference to show solidarity, also supported the stand of the Choggu Low-cost Residents' Association.

They were of the view that the sudden change to sell the houses to the assemblies instead of the current occupants could lead to a serious conflict between the two interested groups resulting in low productivity.