Landlord convicted for failing to construct household toilet

George Yibor, a cocoa farmer and landlord, has been convicted by a Hohoe Magistrate Court over his refusal to construct a household toilet.

Yibor was sentenced to a sum of GH₵1,200 and would serve six months in prison if he defaults in payment of the fine.

The convict, who appeared in the Court presided over by Madam Edith Lucy Dzormeku, pleaded guilty with the explanation that he was yet to construct a new toilet after the old one was declared not safe for use.

He said the artisans he engaged on the construction of the new toilet failed him.

The Court however said the explanations of the convict could not exonerate him and thereby convicted Yibor on his own plea.

Prosecuting, Mr Frank Azila-Gbettor, Chief Environmental Health Assistant at the Hohoe Municipal Assembly, told the court that the convict is a landlord of a house in Hohoe occupied by five tenants but lived in Papase.

He said on March 19, 2020, Environmental Health Officers, while on an inspection visited the convict’s house and detected the absence of a latrine and added that the tenants were educated and advised to liaise with their landlord to construct one.

Mr Azila-Gbettor said on June 19, same year, the Officers revisited the house and observed that no action had still been taken by Yibor, which was against a Legislation passed by the Assembly in 2018.

George Yibor was in court after a bench warrant was issued, when he failed to appear in court in July last year. He was subsequently arrested and convicted.