Rawlings’ new home rising gradually out of ashes

More than two years after the fire, former President Jerry Rawlings and his family can return to live at Ridge before close of this year.

A senior official in the Mills government has told The Globe “work to restore the property to its former glory is in full flight and we hope to see the former first family back at Ridge before the end of this year”. “When complete, the structure we are talking about will match up to the status of Mr Rawlings as a former President of this country. In the unlikely event that the project delays, we could have the former President move back into the property by early next year,” a government source told this reporter on Sunday without giving further details.

“All I can say is the contractor is on site and work is progressing seriously. It is a constitutional obligation to house the former President and we are doing just that. But, I am unable to tell you the total cost of the project let alone the number of rooms and the specifications,” the official said. However, when asked specifics about the project’s cost the official would not say.

Two days earlier, a former aide to the Rawlingses, Ambassador Victor Smith, said the project is at “lintel level as we speak”.

The former Ghanaian Ambassador to the Czech Republic made the comment in response to claims by critics that Mr Rawlings has been consistently “maltreated” by the current administration.

“They said we have not treated him fairly. His house got burnt and we are building the House. It is a fact,” Mr Smith said. “I didn’t go into the House. I drove pass there and you can see it.”

Information Ministry officials declined comment. Security details guarding the property do not allow sight-seers onto the sprawling property, but evidence of building is visible just opposite the site of the burnt colonial building the Rawlingses once called home .

Kofi Adams, Spokesperson for the former President, was not available for comment. The fine details of the project have been preceded by widespread controversy after allegations that the state was dillydallying over its obligation to house the former first family.

Since the February 2010 fire, Mr Rawlings, according to his aides, has been living in a private lakeside home at Vume in the Volta Region. Rawlings also owns a sprawling mansion at Adjirigano just outside Accra. His aides have repeatedly claimed that the luxurious property is still under construction. The former President’s wife, Mrs Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has been putting up with her biological mother at the Nyaniba Estates in Accra. Yet, the place of abode of the couple’s four children has remained a mystery.

Mr Rawlings was not in the house at the time of the fire, which started around 4.00am. The only occupants at the time were his wife and daughter Yaa Asantewaa, who fled the burning edifice unhurt. “[It is] a painful loss but so long as no life was involved we should thank God…These things happen, they happen, don’t worry,” were the exact words of Mr Rawlings after seeing the remains of a place he had called home for over three decades.

Not long after the February 14 fire was put out by firemen, President John Mills visited the property and promised to restore the edifice.

But, a long delay in starting work on the building sparked a bitter row that spilled into the open with loyalists of the former President accusing the Mills government subjecting the NDC founder to “undue suffering”.