Prez relocates to Flagstaff House

The ceremony was attended by former President Jerry John Rawlings; the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood; the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen Peter Augustine Blay; the acting Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Alhassan; the National Security Advisor, Brigadier Gen Joseph Nunoo Mensah; the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Douglas Kweku Bani, and the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei.

In his remarks, President Mahama recalled that when the NDC came to power in 2009 under the leadership of President John Evans Atta Mills, the security appraisal indicated that the Flagstaff House was not safe for the President.

He said when he (President Mahama) assumed office this year, he set up a committee chaired by Commodore Steve Obimpe to assess the state of the Flagstaff House and make recommendation.

He said the committee identified some defects, including leakages, which were fixed while the security situation was improved.

President Mahama said the committee recommended that the seat of government could be relocated to the Flagstaff while steps were being taking to finalise the issues of security.

However, he said, the committee had indicated that the presidential residency would be ready within the next three months, and stated that he would move to the residency as soon as work on it was completed.

President Mahama said "henceforth, all major operations and the day-to-day activities of the presidency will be taken place here at the Flagstaff House."

However, he said, some activities would continue to take place at the Castle awaiting the relocation of the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to their new building.

The President said the Castle and the Asomdwe Park (the burial place of the late President Mills) would be opened to the public, both local and foreign, to tour and have photo opportunities.

He said the Castle was a storehouse of the history of Ghana's presidency, and that opening it up would expose the people to the history of the country's presidency.

The Flagstaff House is a presidential palace in Accra which previously served as a residence and office of Ghana's first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.  The Flagstaff House was reconstructed and inaugurated with the name Golden Jubilee House in November, 2008 when construction was about 70 per cent - 80 per cent completed.

 In January, 2009, the government of President Mills maintained Osu Castle as the presidency. He later changed the name of the building to the Flagstaff House because he was of the view that the Kufuor administration did not use a legislative instrument to effect the change of name from Flagstaff House to the Jubilee House as required by law.

Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru