Contractor locks classrooms at Odoben SHS, halting lessons over unsettled debt

Academic activities at Odoben Senior High School in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District have come to a halt after a contractor locked up an eight-unit classroom block due to an unpaid debt.

Kofi Gyansah, the Chief Executive Officer of Rollga Construction Limited, claims he was awarded the contract by the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) in 2010 but has yet to receive payment for the work completed. Despite the classroom block being nearly 90 percent finished, the school has reportedly been using the facility since 2012 without settling the outstanding debt.

Mr. Gyansah explained that his efforts to recover the money had been unsuccessful. "Every attempt to retrieve my payment has been met with excuses and delays," he said.

The contractor also pointed to the introduction of the Free SHS policy and the subsequent dissolution of PTAs as factors contributing to the delay.

“The contract was awarded to me by the PTA, but the government dissolved the association after introducing the Free SHS policy, and I was expecting the government to absorb the debt, but that didn’t happen. So last year I tried to lock the facility, but government officials pleaded that I should wait until after the elections and they’d pay me. Yet I have not been paid a dime as we speak,” he said.

Although Mr. Gyansah did not disclose the exact amount owed, he described it as "several millions of Ghana cedis."

In response to the lack of payment, he took control of the building, locking it and halting lessons for the school's hundreds of students. He also warned that legal action would follow if the school attempts to break into the building or continue using it without settling the debt.

“They have used the building, which is over 90 percent complete, since 2012. That itself is illegal, so I am not expecting them to go back into it until I am paid; otherwise, I’ll institute legal action against the school authorities for trespassing,” he said.

The construction of the eight-unit classroom block had greatly expanded the school’s capacity, boosting enrollment from about 200 to over 1,800 students and allowing the introduction of additional academic programs.