“You’ll not be spared” – Minister warns ‘selfish’ landlords who eject tenants at coronavirus times

The Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, has cautioned landlords against ejecting tenants illegally as people need to stay home to stop coronavirus spread.

He charged landlords to “be generous” as places of abode had become critical towards cutting public physical contact to stop people from being carriers of the contagious infection that had killed 16 people in Ghana.

A total of 1,550 total cases have been confirmed, with 150 overcoming the disease and recovered fully.

Alluding to Mr Akufo-Addo’s speech on the government being able to revive the economy but not a dead citizen, Mr Atta Akyea said the “moral virtue” of placing human lives above economic gains should direct the conduct of everyone.

That, he said, should “guide the landlord and tenant relationship within the confines of the law when the world is overwhelmed with the novel coronavirus”.

Since March 15, the government has placed a ban on the social gathering, and some companies have ceased operations. Firms that are operating have asked staff to run shifts or have asked staff to work from home to limit contact.

“We’re being admonished to stay at home as much as possible, and even with the lifting of the lockdown, you have to stay at home, but if where you are supposed to stay is having challenges because of the bad behaviour of a landlord or landlady, for that matter, it will be extremely unGhanaian,” he said at a media briefing on Tuesday, April 28.

“How is it going to work in this COVID environment if landlords with commercial appetite start evicting tenants from their premises?” he wondered.

He said the “life-threatening” situation demanded the efforts of everyone to abide by the President’s anti-coronavirus directives to deal with the infection.

He stressed that “landlords are expected to extend similar treatment to tenants as they will not be spared if they exploit the situation and fall foul of the law”.

Meanwhile, Mr Atta Akyea has cautioned landlords against renting out premises to foreigners.

“It is very mandatory to insist that without a COVID-19 negative clearance, the landlord should not rent out the premises,” he stressed.

“We all know that this pandemic has been imported, so, be careful that in the name of dollars, you don’t bring in a foreigner who hasn’t got the clearance that he’s not infected by the disease. I need not remind you that the virus is an importation from foreigners and those who had contact with them prior to the lockdown,” he cautioned.

With the onset of rains and impending flooding associated with a torrential downpour, the minister implored the public to desilt all gutters and drainage in their vicinity.

The government is embarking on “emergency desilting”, he stated and urged all stakeholders to complement the efforts of the state.