Sixty Prisons Officers and their families are at risk of being ejected from their rented premises by their landlords.
The officers who live in separate locations at Effiduase and Nsukwao, near Koforidua in the Eastern Region, owed rent arrears to the tune of GHc50,400.00.
The rent according to the 2018 annual audit report of the Auditor General span from January 2016-December 2016.
“…Tenancy documents between Ghana Prisons Service, Koforidua and five Landlords however disclosed that the service owed rent arrears of GHc50, 400… We however, noted that, rent for January 2017 to December 2017 had been settled leaving that of 2016 unpaid”, the report stated.
While payments of rent are processed from the headquarters, the Auditor General wants the Prison Service to pursue the Ministry of Finance to settle the debt.
Threats
Some of the landlords who spoke to Dailymailgh.com said their patience had run out and could resort to the court the monies are not paid.
Others, however, intend to demolish the property for other use citing unkempt environment with waste plastic materials scattered all over anytime they visited.
Officials of the Ghana Prisons Service were, however not available for comments at the time of filing this report.
‘Development worrying’
Ejection notices and threats are issues the Service has to contend with frequently since it is not able to meet its financial obligation to various landlords.
Fraud and Security Consultant, Richard Kumadoe says the development could affect the work of the affected officers.
“There is the need to look at this holistically because the development can affect their output of work and this is evident that we are not taking good care of our security infrastructure as a nation”, Mr Kumadoe said.
“I think the affected officers must take the fight upon themselves to engage appropriate authorities. They can write to the appropriate authorities to come to their aid because their services are crucial to the security and safety of this country”, he added.
Source: Daily Mail GH| J. Ofori
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