PHOTO: 70-year-old woman homeless after using her house as collateral for a friend’s loan

• Posted on May 30, 2014May 30, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

A 70-year old woman has been rendered homeless after her house was auctioned to defray a loan which her son’s friend secured from a financial institution some years ago.

Mrs Margaret Mensah has also distributed her personal belongings to friends and relatives to keep for her until further notice while she begs people for a place to lay her head.

The predicament of Mrs Margaret Mensah began on Friday, January 3,2014 when her house was auctioned.

The auctioning was done by an auctioneer, a  court official and a representative of IFS Financial Services after the case had been heard by the Accra Fast Track High Court.

Background

Mrs Mensah, a retiree, had allowed her house, located at Mataheko in Accra, to be used as collateral for the loan which her son’s friend secured from a financial institution some years ago.

However, due to the inability of the borrower, the Managing Director of Farmers Alliance Company limited, Mr David Siale, to pay for the loan, the house was sold to settle his indebtedness.

Mr Siale was introduced to the 70- year-old woman by her son, Ibrahim Laryea Conney,who died during the litigation over the sale of the house.

Mrs Mensah, in an interview, disclosed that she agreed to allow her house to be used as collateral by Mr Siale because she trusted him.

Narrating her ordeal to at her new residence at Teshie-Agblezaa,Mrs Mensah said her family had distributed their property among other family  members and friends for safekeeping as they struggled to get a place to lay their heads.

The retiree, who has three children – two males and a female – said she had been spending the nights in the houses of her friends and at other times with other family members.

“It is really disheartening the way I go about begging people to give me a place to lay my head each night. My children are out there in the cold, also struggling to get a place to live. I am very sure my late husband would be turning in his grave, watching us go through this ordeal,” she said, holding back tears.

Meanwhile, she said she had  received information that the new owner, believed to be an elder of a charismatic church, had not yet occupied the building, and added that all her attempts to get Mr Siale to help address the issue had proved futile.

-Daily Graphic