The Landlord for the property where I presently reside lives in England. Her son, Sam, acts as her representative. He collects the rent and makes all decisions pertaining to the piece of real estate in Sofokyere. He doesn’t even show up on time to collect the rent annually. Furthermore, if there is an emergency requiring his immediate attention. Then don’t hold your breath while waiting for his arrival. I asked one of my friends to make arrangements with a mason to come and survey the damage. To the foundation of my kitchen consequent upon the plumber digging into that area to locate and repair the broken pipe. The mason came, gave me an estimate and I assured him that I would get back to him as soon as I was ready. About two weeks passed and while coming out of my bedroom for my midnight devotion one Tuesday, I saw a mouse racing towards me to get back into the pantry. The small room beside my spacious kitchen, in which he had recently taken up residence. I did everything I could to retard his progress toward that goal. But my brambled broom was located at a spot where I could not recall. Accordingly, he temporarily escaped the destruction that I intended to wreak upon him.
The following day the caretaker’s wife, who speaks very little English. Showed me a water bill and wanted to know how much I intended to contribute towards its final settlement. I looked at the bill very carefully and as I did so it dawned upon me that this was the very same bill. That the caretaker, the tenant on my left, and myself had visited the water commission in Berekum, about in January. I, therefore, turned to her and said, “nothing.” I continued, “This amount is not our responsibility. Neither myself nor any other tenant here used any of this water that ran out of the broken pipe into the ground. Not only the cost of all the repairs but the excess amount in the water bill is the responsibility of the landlord.” She looked at me in surprise and thanked me. The following day the caretaker himself asked me when I intended to effect the repairs to the foundation. My answer was “Never.” “This is not my house,” I continued. “Moreover, from the very beginning, I invited Mr. Sammy to come here and survey the damage, and although he promised to put in his appearance. Up to this blessed day, we haven’t seen him,” I concluded.
As the saying goes in Jamaica, “A ghost knows exactly who to fool.” Apparently, Mr. Sammy was privately pressuring the caretaker who is also one of his relatives to nudge me to complete the repairs on the foundation of my kitchen at my own expense. But since I was well acquainted with the con artistry of Ghanaians in general I simply stated, “Everything that I’ve asserted is rooted and grounded in Ghanaian Law. I’m even willing to go down to the Berekum Courthouse and get one of the lawyers there to write a letter testifying to the truthfulness and authoritativeness of all that I have claimed. So that you can read it for yourself and also give a copy to Mr. Sammy.” The caretaker simply said, “O.K.”
The Rent Control Department is to begin writing Tenancy Agreements for Landlords and Tenants in the coming months. That’s according to Chief Rent Officer Twumasi Ampofo. The move is to reduce tensions between Landlords and Tenants that have existed over the years. It comes after a tenant was shot dead by a landlord at Ofankor in Accra on Sunday. The Landlord who had gone to the house with a gun to forcibly eject the tenant claims he shot him in self-defense. The Police are investigating the incident with the Landlord in custody. Speaking to Francis Abban on The Morning Star Tuesday, The Chief Rent Officer said reports of abuse of tenants by Landlords over the years have inspired the upcoming legislation. (GHANA WEB: Rent Control to write tenancy agreements between landlords and tenants. Tuesday 26 May 2020.)
The fact that vermin was now living in my apartment was a source of great concern to me. The frequency with which lizards crawled through the cracks in the windows to enter my sanctum sanctorum was bad enough. I certainly wasn’t going to tolerate a mouse. I went down to The Berekum Market and purchased a mechanical mousetrap and also a glue trap which was designed to arrest the mouse once he walked on it. I placed some bread on both of them. The small intruder ate all the bread off of the mechanical trap which did not even fly. He walked on the glue trap and ate some of the bread and then walked off. “Was this mouse outsmarting me,” I asked myself? I resolved to do something more drastic. I returned to the market and purchased some good old rat poison. I placed a generous amount on the mechanical trap. Hoping that this time the trap would fly and catch him. I retired to bed at the usual time around 9:00 P.M. While lying there I heard some unusual sounds. But I didn’t bother to get up and check because not only was I exhausted; I also wasn’t sure exactly where the sounds were coming from.
On Thursday Mr. Isaac, one of the members of The Kato S.D.A. Church. A congregation that I frequently visited. Came to my apartment to do some painting in the blue bedroom. There was a crack in the corner of the ceiling over my bedhead and I needed him to fill that area with some putty and then paint it. It didn’t take him long to effect those repairs. All I needed to do, was to help him move the cumbersome bed, which has eight legs and is very common in Ghana. He spent the whole day working here and even cleaned and de-cobwebbed the entire apartment. While he was working in the pink bedroom he summoned me. “I need to show you something, Mr. James.” By the time I got there, he was in the bathroom adjoining the pink bedroom and standing over the toilet bowl. I feverishly walked over to where he was positioned and looked into the bowl.
To my great surprise, there was the wicked mouse. His carcass stretched out full length as he floated on his back. So this was the reason for all the inexplicable rumblings that I had heard the night before. This mouse had escaped the traps. But he couldn’t escape the poison after consuming it. Overwhelmed with an inordinate and unquenchable thirst. He quickly made his way to the bathroom and jumped into the toilet bowl. But while there he succumbed to the poison and drowned. The previous week I noticed a small hole in the wall. Immediately above the hole in the foundation of my kitchen. Which had been dug by the plumber. I found a small rectangular stone, which I used to block that hole. Not realizing at the time, that thereby I was preventing the mouse from escaping from my pantry. It was abundantly clear to me now that making those concrete repairs was mandatory for my own peace of mind and safety. Life is full of contradictions. It was the landlord’s responsibility to make the necessary repairs. But if I didn’t take care of them promptly then my pantry would soon be filled with lizards, snakes, and vermin.
This is a sinful world, filled with injustices, inequities, and apparent disadvantages. But these are the same setbacks used by providence to facilitate the development of characters that will fit us for heaven. As The Master Himself asserted,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” Matthew 5:38 (NKJV).
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