A woman has accused her landlady of ordering young men to break into her rented apartment and carry her belongings outside while she was away at church, damaging several of her items.
The woman, who spoke in a recorded account, said she rented a two-bedroom apartment at GH¢2,500 and paid GH¢5,000 to secure it, an amount she said included a security deposit. She had agreed the tenancy for a period of three to six months.
She was supposed to share the apartment, located at Lashibi Community 16, with a friend, but the friend pulled out, leaving her responsible for the full rent. She said she struggled to raise the money to pay the landlady.
She said she usually dealt with the caretaker, who passed her messages on to the landlady. She had met the landlady in person only twice, last week Friday and again the day before the incident, when they were supposed to sit down and discuss the matter.
While she was at church, she said, she received a call that the landlady had come to the house.
“I went to church and I had a call that the landlady had come to my house. She instructed boys to break my door and then bring the things out,” she said.
She said a sofa, her son’s bag and other items were damaged in the process.
“They have spoiled a couple of things for me, which I think she has to pay for, because I wasn’t there when she broke into my room,” she said.
The landlady, speaking with Acting Rent Commissioner Frederick Opoku, defended her action, saying the woman had been told to leave several days earlier.
Mr. Opoku, however, told her the law does not allow a landlord to take matters into her own hands, and directed that the tenant be allowed back into the room.
