Official resides in printing house with family

Four years after his assumption of office as the Director of the Bureau of Ghana Languages (BGL), Mr Francis Ehom Kwaw, has not been provided with official accommodation.

Consequently, he and his family have been using offices of the bureau as their residence.

Some members of staff have alleged that his squatting was affecting work of the bureau, compelling them to print jobs outside.

The Times learnt of this situation on Tuesday when the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr. Alexander Asum-Ahensa, paid a familiarization visit to the bureau.

But Mr Kwaw has discounted the workers' claim in an interview with the Time, saying, “before I assumed this position, the printing machine had broken down so my stay here is not in anyway affecting business."

He, however, admitted that the bureau owed private printers more than GH¢20,000 for job done outside.

He said, he had been compelled to stay in the offices because several promises by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to get him accommodation had failed and he could not raise about GH¢4,500 to rent an apartment.

Mr Kwaw said the fortunes of the bureau were fast dwindling since it hardly got contracts from the Ghana Education Service to supply books written in the 11 Ghanaian languages.

He attributed this to the bureau being placed under the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture instead of the Ministry of Education, as used to be the case.

"We do not even have the money to regularly buy the tender forms," he said.

Given these difficulties, Mr Kwaw argued that it would do not make economic sense to buy a new printer at a great cost "when the mass of contracts the bureau receives is nothing to write home about."

He said BGL has been collaborating with some private printing houses to print its materials explaining that the last printing job it undertook was done on credit which it was still paying.