The Acting Rent Control Commissioner, Frederick Opoku, and Chairman of the Hostel Owners Association, Bishop Owusu-Bi, have clashed over the approach being adopted by the Rent Control Department to regulate private hostels.
The disagreement surfaced during a discussion on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, August 19, with Bishop Owusu-Bi accusing the Rent Control Department of using the wrong approach in dealing with hostel owners.
According to him, the association had invited the Acting Commissioner to Kumasi to engage members and discuss practical ways of addressing challenges in the sector.
Bishop Owusu-Bi said the Commissioner, however, declined the invitation, arguing that he could not use state funds to travel to meet private hostel owners and that the association should rather finance his trip.
“I personally invited him (Frederick Opoku) to Kumasi for us to sit down and deliberate on how we are going to do this. The first statement was that ‘I am a very experienced public servant and I cannot come unless you bear my cost’. When I was trying to explain things to him, he hung up the phone,” Owusi-Bi claimed.
Mr Opoku defended the department’s position, insisting that it was taking the appropriate steps within its mandate.
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The exchange highlighted growing tensions between the Rent Control Department and private hostel operators over how best to regulate the sector while addressing concerns surrounding rent and hostel charges.
