Ohene Ntow Surcharged For "squatting" in Gov't Bungalow

The General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Nana Ohene Ntow has been surcharged an accumulated amount of GH� 96,000 by the government for illegally occupying a government bungalow from 2001 to 2009. The Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr. Hannah Bisiw disclosed this to Citi News in an exclusive interview. Nana Ohene-Ntow is accused of illegally staying in the bungalow long after he ceased to be a public officer. There are also allegations that the former government�s spokesperson on Finance�s wife turned parts of the bungalow into a commercial �shitor� and fried rice factory. The Ministry of work�s and Housing, according to its Deputy Minister, had to surcharge Nana Ohene Ntow after he failed to respond to a letter which requested him to provide documentation that gave him the legal right to stay in the bungalow. Dr. Bisiw added that ��the time elapsed so we�ve accompanied that letter with another letter asking him to pay for the rent from 2001 when he occupied the place to 2009 when he left the bungalow." According to the Deputy works and Housing Minister, the NPP Secretary General would be charged a commercial rate of one thousand Ghana Cedis per month for turning the bungalow into �a small scale shitor and fried rice factory". �We are going to surcharge him a commercial rate because he turned the place into a commercial centre�we are looking at a GH� 1000 per month for the eight years because, unless he gives us letters to prove otherwise we consider that he lived there illegally so we consider it as squatting and he is going to be surcharged for the number of years that he lived there.� She said Meanwhile, Nana Ohene Ntow has confirmed that he has received the said letter from the Ministry. According to him, he was allocated the bungalow by the government when he was appointed Government�s Spokesperson on Finance. �My appointment was as Government�s Spokesman and that appointment was made by the President of the Republic. As part of the condition I was to receive a fully furnished official accommodation". Nana Ohene Ntow further disclosed �that a certain amount of my electricity, water, telephone and health bills were supposed to be paid by the government but for that whole period that I was a public official I bore all those costs myself. According to the NPP General Secretary, at the time he occupied the bungalow there was an accumulated electricity bill which he had to settle before light was reconnected to the house. He says he would respond to the Ministry accordingly.