A landlady of an apartment building at Teiman in Accra, Joyce Terkper, has given three months’ rent waiver to her tenants due to the lockdown directive announced by the government.
Even before a suggestion to government to order a freeze on ejections by landlords is considered, Joyce Terkper, in a letter dated April 18, 2020, told her tenants that due to the hardship that the Covid-19 lockdown had wrought on every Ghanaian, she and her husband, Peter Terkper, have decided to waive three months’ rent off their rent charges.
She stated in the letter that tenants in her three two-bedroom, two ‘chamber and hall’ and six single-room apartments, whose rent was not yet due should take out the equivalent of three months’ rent and pay the rest when their rent is due, while those whose rent was due can wait and make payments after three months.
Joyce Terkper told Adom News that she felt the need to provide the relief to her tenants because she knows that the lockdown directive has been hard on everyone.
She noted that if President Nana Akufo-Addo can give everyone at least three months relief due to the lockdown, “then I feel it is in order for people like me who are privileged to extend the same gesture to the people we can help.”
A tenant, Desmond Osuquaye, told Adom News that ‘Auntie Joyce’ and her husband, ‘Uncle Peter’ are angels and “we count ourselves blessed to be their tenants.”
He said when the lockdown started, the landlady invited them and told them they can get any item from her supermarket and pay later since they were not making any money due to the lockdown directive that barred some category of workers from
“She even gives us cooked food for free almost every day and ensures that we maintain our relationship with God even during this lockdown,” he said.
Desmond said most of the tenants – a total of 18 – are young men and the landlady and her husband treat them like family, with a rare great understanding and care.
He said the letter informing them about the three months’ rent waiver was the icing on the cake.
Desmond told Adom News that they were so overwhelmed by it, “that was why they decide to share the joy with the rest of the world.”
Joyce Terkper and her husband also run a car rental business and other businesses.
The apartments are located on the top floors of a popular groceries shop called Aroma Supermarket at Teiman, which is also owned by the couple.