The operations of the Rent Control Department will soon be digitised to eliminate the manual process and improve the efficiency of the department.

To this end, a government committee made up of officials of the Ministry of Works and Housing and the Ministry of Communications have begun the implementation of the digitisation plan for the department.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye disclosed this to Journalists after paying a short working visit to interact with staff and clients of the department.

The Rent Control Ddepartment has been facing logistical challenges in the past few years due to inadequate budgetary allocations, a situation which has affected its handling of rent issues in the country.

According to the Chief Rent Control Officer, Twum Ampofo, apart from the lack of modern technologies to speed up its work, the department also operates with only two vehicles nationwide.

He made an appeal to the Minister of Works and Housing to inject some capital investment into their operations.

Francis Asenso Boakye used the opportunity to interact with some staff of the department and clients who have cases at the department.

In his response to the appeal by the Chief Control Officer, the Minister hinted that work has begun to make the operations of the department fully digital.

He therefore assured that the government is concerned about the situation of rent in the country and is working to find a solution.

“As the Vice President [ Dr. Bawumia] said last year and in our manifesto, we shall soon kick start the digitalisation of your operations. There is a whole committee working on it from the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation and also my ministry – the works and housing.”

“This is very important and critical because I have realised that you people still use the old and rudimental methods of working and collecting data. This is impeding the work of the Rent Control Department and we must abolish it” he told the team.

He also added that “as part of the review of the rent law, we shall transform the operations of the department and make renting in Ghana a more convenient one. I can assure you that we as a government are concerned about the increasing rate of rent challenges faced in the country as a result of demand and supply”.

The entourage from the ministry used the opportunity to also interact with some clients of the department.