{
  "id": 1924275,
  "title": "Rent Control boss, hostel owners chairman clash over regulation of private hostels",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/rent-control-boss-hostel-owners-chairman-clash-over-regulation-of",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-19T11:38:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/rent-control-boss-hostel-owners-chairman-clash-over-regulation-of-private-hostels/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Acting Rent Control Commissioner Frederick Opoku and Hostel Owners Association Chairman Bishop Owusu-Bi engaged in a heated exchange over the department's methods for regulating private hostels. The dispute unfolded during a conversation on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on August 19th. Bishop Owusu-Bi criticized the Rent Control Department for employing an incorrect strategy in handling hostel owners, stating that the association had invited him to Kumasi to discuss practical solutions for sector challenges. However, the Commissioner declined the invitation, citing that he could not use state funds to travel to meet private hostel owners, suggesting that the association should bear the costs instead. \"I personally invited him (Frederick Opoku) to Kumasi for us to sit down and deliberate on how we are going to do this. The first statement was that ‘I am a very experienced public servant and I cannot come unless you bear my cost’. When I was trying to explain things to him, he hung up the phone,\" Owusi-Bi asserted. Opoku defended the department's actions, claiming they were taking appropriate measures within their authority. This confrontation unveiled mounting tensions between the Rent Control Department and private hostel operators regarding the most effective means of regulating the sector while addressing rent and hostel charge concerns.",
  "summary": "The Acting Rent Control Commissioner, Frederick Opoku, and Chairman of the Hostel Owners Association, Bishop Owusu-Bi, have clashed over the approach being adopted by the Rent Control Department to regulate private hostels.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
        "title": "Hostel owners challenge Rent Control Department over assessment of private hostel fees",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/hostel-owners-challenge-rent-control-department-over-assessment-of",
        "published": "2026-08-19T11:19:41.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Adom Online",
        "title": "Rent Control boss, hostel owners chairman clash over regulation of private hostels",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/rent-control-boss-hostel-owners-chairman-clash-over-regulation-of",
        "published": "2026-08-19T12:02:15.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}