Landlady of journalist living with HIV/AIDS, Richard Darku, has evicted him from her house after learning of his status.
According to the landlady, other tenants who learned of Richard’s status in an interview he had with Crime Check TV GH, demanded his eviction from the house since they could not live with an infected person. She said she had to concede to eject Richard out of the house after they all threatened they will leave the house.
For the fear of ending up in Richard’s situation, many individuals refuse to test to know their status, and even if they become aware of their status, they do not make it public, unlike Richard who courageously opened up on his.
The budding journalist said since the airing of the interview, he has been battling stigmatization though his decision to disclose his status was meant to encourage others to go for testing.
He indicated that her landlady prevented him from entering the house when he came back from his hometown on a visit.
“After the interview, some of my friends and even family relatives have started ignoring me but I am unperturbed because of my resolve to encourage others. A day after the interview I went to my hometown to visit my family and when I came back, the landlady stopped me from going inside. She said she would not allow me inside. Another time, when I went to cut my hair, the barber drove me away saying that his boss has threatened to sack him if he sees me anywhere close to the shop.” He said.
CCF’s intervention
Crime Check Foundation (CCF) quickly intervened upon hearing Richard’s emotional complaint. The Executive Director of CCF, Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng pleaded with the landlady to give Richard a grace period to find another place. This was after several talks Mr. Kwarteng had with the landlady to convince her to accept the HIV/AIDS patient.
How did Richard contract HIV/AIDS?
Richard said he lost his parents at a tender age making life difficult for him. To survive, he said he had to come to Accra to seek greener pastures selling pure water during the day and the profit he made from the water business, he used it to sell ‘nkatie burger’ at night.
He said he slept on the streets until he met some friends he indicated were homosexuals. He said they promised him they will take good care of him. Richard said in exchange for the utmost care his new friends managed to give him, he gave them sex. Later, he said he moved to Kade in the Eastern Region where he worked with Fresh FM as a host on a health programme educating people on HIV/AIDS and encouraging his listeners to check their HIV status.
Through the series of interviews he conducted with health professionals, he was also motivated to check his status. To his shock, he said he tested positive and his dilemma was whom he was going to confide in because of the stigma associated with the disease.
The Foundation is appealing to the general public to come to the aid of Richard to start a new life.
