Contractor locks Odoben SHS classroom block over 14-year unpaid debt

Teaching and learning at Odoben Senior High School in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District have been halted after a contractor locked up an eight-unit classroom block over a 14-year unpaid debt.

The contractor, Kofi Gyansah, Chief Executive Officer of Rollga Construction Limited, said he was engaged by the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) in 2010 to build the facility. Although the project was nearly completed, he claimed the PTA never paid him for the work done, even though the school has been using the structure since 2012.

“I have made several attempts to recover my money, but none has yielded results. They keep giving one excuse after another,” Mr. Gyansah lamented.

He blamed the delay partly on the introduction of the Free SHS policy, which led to the dissolution of PTAs. According to him, the government’s failure to assume responsibility for the PTA’s debt has left him with no option but to secure the building.

“The contract was awarded to me by the PTA, but when the Free SHS policy came, the government dissolved the association. I expected the government to take up the debt, but that didn’t happen. Last year, I was advised to wait until after the elections for payment, but nothing has been done. As I speak, I haven’t received a pesewa,” he told Citi News.

Mr. Gyansah, who declined to disclose the total amount owed, said the debt runs into several millions of Ghana cedis. He has now sealed off the classroom block, forcing students out of class.

He warned that any attempt by the school to break into the building would lead to legal action. “They have used the building since 2012 without paying. That itself is illegal, so until I’m paid, I’ll not allow them to use it again,” he said.

The locked facility had been instrumental in expanding the school’s enrollment from about 200 to over 1,800 students and enabling new academic programmes.