JJ Must Pay Rent -NPP

..For staying in state bungalow for over 20yrs

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked President John Evans Atta Mills to calculate rent for former President Jerry John Rawlings to pay for occupying a state bungalow for a number of years.

According to the leadership of the NPP, they have come to this conclusion based on the premise that the government of President Mills has failed to provide a house and office for the immediate past President, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, with the reason that the nation cannot afford it.

“If Kufuor cannot be provided a house and an office facility because the nation cannot afford it, then how can the nation afford two houses located at the prime area of Ridge, which ex-President Rawlings has been using for the past twenty years,” the party asked.

Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday to express its opinion on the one year reign of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration on the theme, ‘2009 In Retrospect: A Catalogue of Failed Promises”, the minority leader in Parliament, Hon. Osei-Kyei Mensah- Bonsu accused the government of shifting the goal post on various state issues since the NDC assumed governance.

He stated, “President Mills has to calculate rent in order for ex-President Rawlings to pay for the twenty years plus that he has used the facility, because the nation cannot afford residential facilities for former Presidents”, stressing that, “What is good for the goose is equally good for the gander.”

The Minority leader, who was flanked by his colleague parliamentarians and the National chairman of the party, Mr. Peter Mac Manu, the party’s chief scribe, Nana Ohene-Ntow and other party gurus, stated that their concerns were without any malice. Kufuor’s vehicles

Expressing grave concern over how vehicles were withdrawn from Mr. Kufuor immediately he left office, the NPP believes that the act was in bad taste, and contrary to the provisions of the constitution and what President Mills pledged to Ghanaians.

“Kufuor’s four vehicles were withdrawn and taken away from his house, even though former President Rawlings at that stage in his life as former President had not less than sixteen vehicles in his pool of vehicles. Former President Kufuor would not be allowed the use of four cars by President Mills,” he noted.

According to him, even though the Greenstreet Recommendation made no provision for cars for a former vice-President, President Kufuor allowed the then former vice-President, Prof. Mills, the use of not less than two vehicles.

Hon. Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu argued that the nation is witnessing a contrivance where some so-called Ga youth purportedly resolved not to allow the former President to use an office facility which had been acquired for his use as office and library. Accusing President Mills of choosing a path of acrimony, he claimed that President Mills’ government waded into the contrivance and took the office away from ex-President Kufuor.