General News of 2026-09-23

'Ashawo Hotel' - Watch as Bono Tourism Director storms Sunyani lodge to shut it down

The Bono Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority has shut down a number of hotels, including Royals Lodge in Sunyani, for allegedly operating without the required licence. The Director, who led officials to the facility, said the lodge had been operating without the documents required to run a tourism-related business. List of radio stations which were shut down by government He described the facility as a place where people mainly go to have sexual encounters, rather than a properly licensed hotel. “This is not a proper hotel. This is an ashawo hotel. It's called a brothel. We don't call them hotels. We call them brothels, where people only just come to sleep with women,” he said. “I'm working for the government and that's where I pick my salary. If the government asks me to work, I'll do it. So, the government said I should close it down. I have closed it down. This time, we have to process you for court,” he added. In videos sighted by GhanaWeb, on September 23, 2026, the Director claimed that the facilities did not have the required documents despite several attempts by officials to get the operators to produce them. The facilities also appeared to be in poor condition at the time of the operation, prompting officials to lock them up. “Lock the house… she is an NPP women organizer. Anytime we come here she will engage us in plenty of talk since the NPP era. Look at the unit. For a very long time, you have been operating. If you don't have a document… (sic) get a police report, get a fire report. These are documents we need,” he ordered. Another facility was also shut down for operating without a licence. 6 top businesses Aliko Dangote shut down before building $20 billion refinery During the operation, the Director found some young women lodging there and raised concerns about the poor condition of the rooms, including used condoms scattered around. The facility owner had claimed that there were no occupants, but officials found belongings of people in some of the rooms, indicating they were occupied. Watch the videos below: MAG/VPO Why Is Flying Within Ghana So Expensive? AWA Founder Explains