The Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Lauretta Vivian Lamptey has disclosed that she was willing to live in her uncompleted official residence to save the Commission from spending a whopping sum on a rented apartment.
Lauretta Lamptey explained on the Citi Breakfast Show that she was forced to rent an apartment at the AU Village in Accra at a cost of $180,000.
This was because renovation on her official residence had already started since it was unsafe to live in the building.
�We were looking for a furnished house because we did not have furniture and the lump sum required to furnish a house was not an amount we would have had available and all the unfurnished houses was for a minimum of two years, so in order to save money, we took a much shorter lease of six months and then we realized it would take much longer so we took a one-year lease at GHC 450,000,� she said.
She explained that she does not own a personal property in Accra and prior to her appointment in 2011, �I was living with my mother, I don�t have a house in Ghana, I don�t own a house anywhere.�
Ms Lamptey has been accused of wasting $180,000 on rent after ordering the redesign of her official residence which has been under renovation for three years.
But she has denied ordering new variations to be made to the house because according to her, the contractor was already on site undertaking renovation works when she took over as CHRAJ boss.
She stated that the official residence was 10 years old and had some wiring problems; therefore, a renovation exercise became necessary.
�I did not come in and choose not to live in this property,� she said.
Ms Lamptey said she lived at the rented apartment from November 2011 until April 2012 but was renewed in November 2012 after the Commission developed some problems with the contractor renovating her residence.
�We realized that there were financial challenges in terms of the existing contractor being given funds to continue his work. He had to stop work and we had to find money,� she said.
She further explained that after the expiration of her one-year lease with her rented apartment, the Commission asked for a six-month renewal of her rent after a new contractor was employed to continue with the renovation of her official residence.
�I was very confident that it would be done in six months time so instead of renewing for another year, we persuaded them to accept just the six months extension,� he clarified.
She disclosed that as at April 2013, she was prepared to move into the uncompleted residence due to the amount of money being spent on the rented apartment.
�I was prepared to move into the uncompleted residence, if it could just be made habitable due to the amount of money being spent on the rented apartment.�
Decision to move to a hotel
The Commissioner of CHRAJ added that although the landlord of her rented apartment was willing to make her live there for an extra six months, she was quite adamant �because the house was nearly ready and we could not justify incurring the cost of another six months.�
�My family and I moved out in order to avoid the additional six months on the 9th of August and that is why I came to hotel� she said.
Ms Lamptey narrated that she is residing at the hotel �for one specific reason�because any other option would have been detrimental. I checked in with my children for a few days and then we would access with CHRAJ what the situation was.�
She however admitted that paying $5,500 for the hotel is a high �but it is hugely discounted because they calculate by room per night. The rate that I am paying is the rate for a single room and it�s me and my children. And what they [hotel] did was to upgrade us into an apartment not so much because I am the CHRAJ Commissioner, but when they found out there was going to be an extended stay after we had been here for a week, and the problem with electrical power had not been sorted out at my residence, they upgraded us at the same rate.�
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