About 20 tenants evicted during downpour in Tamale

The wife of former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Hajia Azara Iddi, has forcibly ejected tenants from her building at Kanville-Tunayili, near Tamale in the Northern Region.

The eviction occurred during a downpour at the weekend which left the personal belongings of four families at the mercy of the rains.

Hajia Azara was alleged to have asked five carpenters last Saturday morning to remove the roofing sheets of the building housing the tenants numbering about 20 in the house.

On a visit to the scene of the incident the Daily Graphic saw the items including sets of “stuffing” furniture, mattresses, clothing, electrical appliances, among others, soaked in the rain with the tenants stranded.

Some of the tenants who said they had no relatives in town had to sleep in the open in the cool weather; all their beddings were wet.

Claims and counterclaims

While some of the tenants told the Daily Graphic that they were given verbal notice two weeks ago to quit their rooms for renovation and expansion works, Hajia Azara said she told the tenants four months ago to quit their rooms for her to undertake some renovation works on the building.

Hajia Azara, who is also said to be the proprietress of Jagma Memorial Educational Complex in Tamale, said the tenants kept on complaining that the building had developed cracks and the roofs leaked badly so she gave them a verbal notice to leave their rooms about four months ago to enable her to carry out the repair works on the building before the rains set in but the tenants refused to vacate their rooms.

However, the tenants, who claimed they were not given any written notice to quit, said they were surprised by the action of their landlady.

Hussein Zackariah, one of the affected tenants, who could not come to terms with the landlady’s action, said Hajia Azara, who is the wife of former CEO of SADA, Mr Gilbert Iddi, gave them a verbal notice to quit their rooms about two weeks ago only for her to come and take such action.

“My brother, look at me. All my personal belongings have been soaked in the rain including the mattress. Where can I sleep tonight?” he asked.

Zackariah said his rent was due to expire in three months, adding that he even went to the landlady to inform her he had got a room and would be moving there this week only for the landlady to forcibly evict them.

Hajia Azara, in an interview with this reporter, described the assertions by the affected tenants as “palpable lies”, since she gave them a verbal notice four months ago to leave their rooms for her to undertake renovation works, adding, “I have not told them that I will not to give the rooms back to them after the renovation.”

The wife of the former SADA CEO could not respond to the alleged action that was taken by the carpenters. 

The tenants said while the carpenters were on top of the building removing the roofing sheets, they went to the Tamale Metro Police Station charge office to lodge a complaint. The police officers told them eviction cases were the duty of the Rent Control Unit.

According to the tenants, some of their co-tenants who had travelled outside had to call people to remove their personal belongings out of the rain, since the roofing sheets of the building had been removed by the carpenters.