A tenants group has kicked against the government’s plans to allow a private developer to refurbish the housing units and sell them to potential owners.
In a statement, the group, the National Tenants Union of Ghana, gave the government 60 days to walk away from this plan.
It said this plan “runs counter to the government’s policy on poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor and vulnerable.”
“Privatisation, therefore, undermines the very possibility of providing affordable housing for people who cannot afford housing above the market rate,” the group added in a statement.
It further called on the President to put “a moratorium on this privatisation agenda and further engage stakeholders on means to make affordable housing of this project a possibility.”
Explaining the government’s reasoning, the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, said the government could not make further commitments to the Saglemi project.
He also said a committee will be put in place to guide the process and ensure transparency in the bidding process.
The Saglemi housing project was started in 2012 under the NDC government to build 5,000 housing units.
The scope of the project was then reviewed downwards in 2014.
Currently, a former Works and Housing Minister under the Mahama administration, Collins Dauda, is standing trial together with four others for allegedly causing financial loss to the State in the controversial housing project.
