By Nadia Ntiamoah
A dispute over the management of a public toilet facility in Kotobabi has escalated beyond the Ayawaso Central Municipality to the doorstep of the presidency, following a formal petition by a private sanitation company alleging unlawful interference by local government officials.
Prince Setraco Ghana Limited, a private construction and sanitation management firm, has petitioned the Mahama-led presidency, accusing the Ayawaso Central Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Rudolf Collingwood-Williams, and the Assemblyman for the Kotobabi Electoral Area, Tommy Thompson, of orchestrating or permitting the illegal takeover of a modern 20-seater public toilet facility.
The company claims the actions have disrupted its operations and deprived both the firm and the Assembly of legitimate revenue.
According to the petition, Prince Setraco entered into a 15-year lease agreement with the Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly on May 1, 2023.
The agreement granted the company the right to renovate, manage, operate and collect user fees from the Kotobabi toilet facility as part of the Assembly’s broader public-private partnership approach to sanitation management.
The company says it invested resources into upgrading the facility and relied on the projected revenue to service a bank loan taken to finance the project.
However, the company alleges that on September 13, 2025, the arrangement was abruptly disrupted when the Kotobabi Assemblyman, Tommy Thompson, allegedly led a group of local youth to forcibly seize control of the facility.
From that point, Prince Setraco claims it was locked out of operations, while revenue collection was taken over without any formal termination of the lease agreement.
In its petition, the company further alleges that when the matter was reported to the Municipal Chief Executive, Rudolf Collingwood-Williams, no decisive action was taken to restore the status quo or protect the Assembly’s contractual obligations.
This inaction, according to Prince Setraco, compelled the company to lodge a complaint with the Nima Police Station and subsequently escalate the matter to the presidency.
The petition claims that revenue collected from the facility since the takeover has not been officially accounted for.
Prince Setraco estimates that unpaid revenue to the Assembly over a six-month period amounts to GH¢10,080.
The company also disclosed that it is currently grappling with an outstanding bank loan of about GH¢180,000, which it says was secured on the strength of the lease agreement and anticipated income from the toilet facility.
In a particularly serious allegation contained in the petition, Prince Setraco claims that proceeds from the facility are being shared among individuals described as “national security boys” operating around the Osu Castle area.
The company says it brought these claims to the attention of the MCE but received no remedial response.
