Contractor Locks Odoben Senior High School Classrooms Over 14 years Unpaid Debt

Academic life at Odoben Senior High School in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District has been brought to a sudden halt after the contractor behind the school’s eight-unit classroom block locked up the facility over a long-standing debt.

According to reports gathered by JUSMAnewshub the contractor, Mr. Kofi Gyansah, Chief Executive Officer of Rollga Construction Limited, revealed that the project was awarded to him in 2010 by the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). However, despite completing about 90 percent of the work, payment has not been made for his services.

Since 2012, the school has reportedly been using the facility without settling the outstanding debt. Mr. Gyansah said all attempts to retrieve his money have been futile.

“Every effort to retrieve my money yielded no positive results. They keep giving one excuse after the other,” he told reporters.

He explained that the introduction of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, which led to the dissolution of PTAs across the country, worsened his situation. “The contract was awarded to me by the PTA, but when the government dissolved the association, I expected the state to absorb the debt. That didn’t happen,” he added.

Mr. Gyansah also disclosed that he was persuaded by government officials in 2020 to hold off legal action until after the general elections, with promises of payment that were never fulfilled. Although he declined to disclose the exact amount owed, he described it as “several millions of Ghana cedis.”

In a bold move, the contractor has now taken control of the building and sealed it off, disrupting lessons for hundreds of students. He warned that any attempt by school authorities to break into the facility would result in legal consequences.

“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,” Mr. Gyansah stated.

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Before the lockdown, the classroom block had played a crucial role in expanding the school’s capacity, helping enrollment grow from about 200 to over 1,800 students. It also enabled the introduction of new academic programmes, significantly improving access to secondary education in the district.

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With the facility now under lock and key, teaching and learning have come to a standstill, leaving many students stranded and raising concerns about the future of the school’s academic calendar.

Education stakeholders in the area are calling on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to step in and resolve the matter urgently to prevent further disruption.

As it stands, the once vibrant campus of Odoben Senior High School remains silent its classrooms empty, and its future uncertain all over a debt that has lingered for more than a decade.