Matthew 8: 20
Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
I remember talking to a friend in
Europe some years back, she had just turned 19 and she told me she was moving
out of her parents’ house. According to her she was too old to live with her
parents. I was 20 going to 21 and the thought of moving out from my parents’
home permanently hadn’t even occurred to me. When I graduated from University,
it was straight to my parents’ place without a thought. When I got a job in
Accra, far from my parent, I moved in with some relatives and would have lived
there indefinitely if I could. Eventually, I had to move out and find my own
place.
I knew rent in Accra wasn’t cheap
but I didn’t think it would be that expensive. How naïve of me. Everywhere I went,
landlords were demanding 2 years rent advance and agents were demanding 10%
extra of whatever I was to pay the landlord. Each time I did the maths I just
wanted to go back and live with my parents. I finally found a place where the taps
run more than 4 days a week, a luxury in Accra by any standard. After almost
emptying my accounts paying 24 months’ rent advance, I finally moved into ‘my own’
place. That night I couldn’t sleep. I had spent 90% of all my savings in the
last two years in one day!! I couldn’t afford a bed; I bought a mattress put it
on the floor and didn’t even bother with any other form of furniture.
According to the rent law of
Ghana as at 2012, no landlord is supposed to charge more than 6 months’ rent
advance, but this is Ghana. Apart from the male/female sign on public toilets,
no other rule works. In fact, when parliamentarians are getting their exorbitant
undeserved rent allowances, they are given enough to cover 2 years advance. The
law makers are breaking the law, no surprise there.
Towards the end of last year,
President Mahama announced an affordable housing project. Nobody took him
serious. Successive governments have made the same promise from as far back as I
can remember. Generally what happens is, an obscene amount of money is pumped
into the project and less than half way through, the project is abandoned of
some new affordable housing project. If
the project is completed, which is almost never, the buildings are immediately
bought by people with government connections who definitely can afford them and
rented out to those who need them who can’t afford them. People who need these
building will never afford them and those who don’t need them will keep buying
them. In the end, it is “as you were” for everyone.
According to a report by the
Housing Data Centre, Over 70% of workers not likely to “ever” own a home. In my
opinion, that percentage should be even bigger. According to the report, people
who earn below Gh₵4000 per month aren’t likely to qualify for a mortgage. Very
few people earn that and given that houses in Ghana are sold in dollars (US not
Zim), even people who earn Gh₵4000 per month won’t be able to afford buying. This
is getting depressing; let me move to something else.
How about building you own house?
Just last week I heard a bag of cement was being sold at Gh₵25! In 1997 a bag
of cement was the equivalent of 50p. Ok, maybe that is too far back. In March
of this year, a bag of cement was Gh₵20.50. It’s no wonder there are so many
uncompleted buildings wasting away. People budget and start building then
suddenly prices go crazy and they are priced out of completing them.
cement be 25
cedis so guess who's staying with the parents till his children
graduate.me
— profit (@kelvinowusu) May
7, 2014
Writing this getting me very
depressed so I’m going to stop. The president says Ghana is not the worstcountry in the world. According to him, it is pessimism that is holding us
back. Let me go and be optimistic so that things get better in Ghana.
“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of 'Ghana' Man has nowhere to lay his head."