*Flagstaff House*
*Is A Death Trap*
*- Gbevlo-Lartey and Nunoo-Mensah Fire Back*
The Herald’s enquiries into why President John Evans Atta Mills has not yet
moved his office and residence to the Flagstaff House palace built by the
Kufuor-led government, have yielded some nerve – chilling revelations,
suggesting that the palace, for now, remains a death trap to any Ghanaian
President.
According to the National Security Co-ordinator, Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, “the
supposed palace does not meet the security and safety requirements for
occupation by a President of Ghana.”
He remarked that when Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah used the Flagstaff House as
his residence and office, the place was well structured and laid out as part
of a complete presidential security enclave.
This, he said, included the flats opposite the Flagstaff House which were
used as accommodation by the guards as well as Senior Non-Commissioned
Officers of the military and police service (NCOs) as accommodation which
covered the open flanks.
But Lt. Col. (Rtd) Gbevlo-Lartey, who for many years, was the Commander of
the 64 Infantry Regiment – an elite commando unit within the Ghana Armed
Forces which was also responsible for presidential and VVIP protection
during the Rawlings regime – insisted that “President Mills would not move
into the Flagstaff House today or tomorrow, until the security and safety
concerns are addressed”.
He disclosed to The Herald in an exclusive interview that work was in
progress to address the shortcomings, but declined further elaboration. He
abhorred the lack of proper planning and preparation that would make the
palace suitable in terms of security for the purpose that it is meant to
serve.
One security expert The Herald spoke to questioned the continued virtual
collocation of the French Embassy with the Flagstaff House.
Security experts have told The Herald that “the siting and design of the
presidential palace make the president an easy pick for any assassin, taking
for instance, a position from the Accra Girls Senior High School, near the
famous “Kawo Kudi Junction”.
“That palace is naked, and you don’t need any sophisticated weapon to smash
it,” the security expert said.
It also “unduly exposes the VVIPs supposed to work and reside there to
attacks from the many structures overlooking the palace which are not under
the control of the Presidential security. In fact, the palace is currently
naked and exposed to threats,” added the expert.
The security of the place has been seriously undermined by all kinds of
structures that have sprung up around the Flagstaff House, posing a security
threat to the occupants of the facility.
Notable structures in this case are: the Egyptian Embassy and Christ The
King Church; French Embassy, TV3 and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
(GBC) on the western part of it (Flagstaff House); the sprawling Kanda
Estates taking the northern and western parts of it and some offices,
including the GBC Club House and the Ghana Water Company.
Compared to the Osu Castle, the Flagstaff House is more vulnerable to
security threats, the experts observed.
One of them remarked that protection of the president should be a serious
matter and should not be handled in the manner that the NPP did and they
nearly got ex-President Kufuor killed when a drug addict, apparently his
buddy, ran his car into his (Kufuor) convoy and got the president’s car
somersaulting, fortunately resulting in minor injuries to him (President
Kufuor).
The Herald’s investigations have revealed that discussions are ongoing
between the Ghanaian authorities and the French Embassy officials to have
them relocated from the Flagstaff House enclave.
A visit and telephone calls to the French Embassy by this paper to talk to
the French Ambassador to Ghana, Francis Hurtut, was fruitless.
Meanwhile, the National Security Advisor, Brigadier-General Joseph
Nunoo-Mensah, on his part, told The Herald that the Flagstaff House has
been, unfortunately, laid bare by the designers, and that the government was
in the process of organizing a make – shift provision that will protect the
facility for the President to move in.
He also observed that the complex did not include accommodation facility for
the presidential guards, and that that would also have to be tackled.
The security advisor disclosed that the lease of the French Embassy, that
shares wall with the facility, expired a month ago, and that they are in
talks with the Embassy officials not to renew the lease but relocate to
another place to make way for preparation for the president to move into the
facility.
But he could not give a date for the completion of the security arrangements
for the President to take occupancy of the complex. He also denied knowledge
of any security report on the presidential complex.
A week today, The Daily Searchlight carried a story with a photograph of a
yet to be roofed building, falsely claiming that President Mills was putting
up a mansion at Regimanuel Gray Estates off the Spintex Road in Accra.
Although the claim was denied by the Presidency, it nonetheless generated
some controversy until it was further refuted by a Director of Regimanuel
Gray Estates, Mrs. Regina Botchwey.
She indicated that there was no such mansion but that it was a rest room
that was being put up by her company for the use of guards in the residence
of the President. She explained that the facility is to be rented out by
Regimanuel Gray Estates to the occupant i.e. President Mills.
Mrs. Botchwey, co-owner of Regimanuel Gray Estates, denied the publication
that President Mills was erecting a mansion.
A letter dated April 7, 2011, pointed out that Regimanuel Gray Estates,
owned by Mrs. Botchwey and her husband, Mr. Emmanuel Botchwey, have been
holding discussions with the Presidency on the construction of a “permanent
rest room and toilet facilities for the security personnel”.
President Mills, in his letter, indicated that “I shall be personally
responsible for the payment of the rent involved”.
The false story having collapsed, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Director of
Communications, Nana Akomea emerged from his trauma – induced silence
following the public condemnation he suffered for insulting the Deputy
Minister of Tourism, James Agyenim-Boateng, saying that “it was about time
President Mills took occupancy of the Flagstaff House.
He claimed that if President Mills had been residing in the Flagstaff House,
he would not have had problems finding a place for his guards.
