FACT-CHECK: Is NAPO's claim that ‘Mahama, Mills refused to live in Jubilee House for 8 years’ true?

Claim:

The running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO), claimed that the NDC, when it was in power for eight years, refused to live in the Jubilee House, which was built by former President John Agyekum Kufuor because it was near a Zongo community.

“When President Kufuor built the Jubilee House for all presidents and President Mills and Mahama came, they said Jubilee House is near Nima so they won’t live there. Who lives in Nima? Zongo people.

“For eight years, they never lived in Jubilee House because Jubilee House was near Zongo. And Zongo is Muslim,” he said.

Explanation:

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor reconstructed and inaugurated Flagstaff House, which previously served as a residence and office to Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, with the name 'Jubilee House' in November 2008 when construction was about 70% - 80% complete.

When the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills took over in January 2009, he maintained the seat of government at the Osu Castle.

Prof. Mills later changed the name of the building back to “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.

Prof. John Evans Atta Mills refused to move to Jubilee House after its completion, citing security concerns. He said that he would only move the seat of government if the security authorities gave him the go-ahead.

The National Security Coordinator then, Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, stated that moving the presidency to the presidential palace (the Jubilee House) would pose serious security threats to the president.

Prof. Mills died in the last year of his term and his vice president, John Dramani Mahama, took over for the remaining six months and was still operating from the Osu Castle.

After Mahama won the December 7, 2012, presidential election, he continued to be at the Osu Castle for about a month before moving the presidency to the Flagstaff House in February 2013.

During an official ceremony to mark the relocation, 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.

Mahama said that he set up a committee chaired by Commodore Steve Obimpe to assess the state of the Flagstaff House and make recommendations. The committee identified some defects, including leakages, which were fixed while the security situation at Flagstaff House was improved and recommended that the seat of government could be moved there.

Conclusion:

NAPO's claim that NDC governments refused to use the Flagstaff House for eight years cannot be true.

The late Prof. Mills served for about three years and six months, using the Osu Castle as the presidency. Mahama used the Osu Castle for about seven months before moving to the Flagstaff House.

So in all, the NDC government did not use the Flagstaff House (Jubilee House) for about four years and a month, not eight years.

Verdict:

NAPO lied when he said the NDC did not use the Jubilee House for eight years.

BAI/ ADG

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