Accommodation scarcity: Don’t charge high fees – KNUST SRC President to hostel managers

President of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Student Representative Council (SRC), Shakir Is-Haq Waiz, has urged hostel owners to stop exploiting accommodation shortages by imposing excessive charges on students.

He made the appeal during a fact-finding exercise by officials of the Rent Control Department in Kumasi aimed at addressing rising hostel costs for tertiary students.

The exercise forms part of efforts by the Rent Control Department to investigate complaints of exorbitant hostel fees charged by private accommodation providers around university campuses.

The intervention follows a petition by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), which called on the Department to step in and help regulate hostel pricing across the country.

Speaking during the inspection rounds, Shakir Is-Haq Waiz described accommodation challenges as one of the biggest difficulties confronting students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

“For sometime now, accommodation has been one of the very great problems facing students of KNUST and I don’t think it is an opportunity for hostel and property developers to take advantage of the unfortunate incident that is the status quo,” he stated.

According to him, the increasing cost of accommodation continues to place enormous financial pressure on students and their families.

“In many instances, the cost for hostel hugely surpasses the tuition fees charged by the schools,” he noted.

The SRC President stressed the need for affordable housing policies to support students and improve academic life on campuses.

“It will serve the best interest of the nation, if we truly want to see the future leaders we are creating, then we should also create affordable housing to assist in their academic affairs,” he said.

He also commended the Acting Rent Commissioner for responding to concerns raised by students and facilitating the engagement with the Rent Control Department.

“I must commend His Excellency Rashid for listening to our concerns and taking up our plight and also relaying it to the Rent Control Department, who have come to execute their mandate as far as their department is concerned,” he added.

The Rent Control Department is expected to continue engagements with hostel operators and property owners as part of efforts to address accommodation pricing concerns affecting tertiary students.