The Chairman of the Hostel Owners Association, Bishop Owusu-Bi, has criticised the Rent Control Department’s approach to regulating hostel facilities, accusing the Acting Rent Commissioner, Frederick Opoku, of making public allegations against operators without first engaging them.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, August 18, Bishop Owusu-Bi said hostel operators were concerned about what he described as the Rent Control's confrontational approach to assessing their facilities and rental charges.

He said regulators should engage stakeholders and understand the challenges facing them before making public statements about their operations.

“Once you have been given the charge to regulate something, I think it’s only fair to get in touch with the stakeholders, have discussions with them, and then let them know your concerns before you come out into the open to say certain things against them,” he said.

According to Bishop Owusu-Bi, hostel operators were particularly concerned about comments allegedly made by the Acting Rent Commissioner describing their charges as exorbitant and exploitative.

He said such statements unfairly portrayed people who had invested their resources into building hostel facilities.

Bishop Owusu-Bi said he personally attempted to engage Mr Opoku after his appointment to discuss the concerns of hostel operators but claimed the attempt was unsuccessful.

He questioned how regulators could secure the cooperation of hostel operators if their engagements began with what he described as threats and accusations.

The Chairman also accused the Rent Control Department of visiting some hostels with cameras and threatening operators with closure.

"He has been going to hostels to say a whole lot of things, threatening to close some of the hostels and that sort of thing.

"...Ghana is a law-abiding country. We have laws that regulate activities and events. You go to the hostel and you have cameras with you and you threaten the owners of the hostel."

He argued that hostel owners had invested heavily in their facilities and faced significant construction, material and borrowing costs.

“One woman said, ‘I have spent so much. Look at the cost of construction. Look at the cost of materials. Look at the cost of borrowing in Ghana.’ You don't want to have anything to do with that. But you want to threaten the person that you close the hostel,” he said.

Bishop Owusu-Bi maintained that any action against hostel operators should be guided by Ghana’s laws and established regulatory procedures.

He called for dialogue between the Rent Control Department and hostel owners to address concerns over pricing and standards without resorting to threats or public accusations.

“We are in Ghana. Ghana is a law-abiding country. We have laws that regulate activities and events,” he said.