Mills Haunted

Sorry but our President is consumed in a major indecision. It is whether to move his official office from the colonial stronghold- the Castle- or to the officially acknowledged Ghanaian presidency, the Jubilee House.

On Tuesday November 10th, 2009, the President received some three accredited diplomats to the country at the Jubilee House. The move has received varied interpretations. Ordinarily, there would not have been any qualms about the decision to relocate the presidency to the Jubilee House.

But the spins offered by his neophyte surrogates who parade as Presidential Spokespersons and Communication Directors on the issue, offer enough pointers to a not-man-enough leader who is haunted by a mere campaign juggernaut, rather than a steel-edged leader who would confront the reality that exists in governance.

Former President Kufuor was confronted with a similar situation when he assumed the presidency in 2001. He however proved humble enough by apologizing to Ghanaians on his campaign tirades against what he said then as a presidential candidate, against the size of government of his predecessor NDC administration.

Whether the move was a cunning way of getting “jobs for the boys” as the usual jargon goes or not can be open to conjectural, speculative or realistic analyses. Yet the thrust of that act was enough to calm nerves of many agitating minds.

The refusal of Professor Mills to use the ultra-modern facility is against the background of a campaign remark that he would find it extremely difficult using the edifice at a crucial period that the ordinary Ghanaian was hungry and that the funds used in the construction of the Jubilee House could have been used to mitigate the suffering of many Ghanaians.

It then becomes extremely difficult to comprehend the subtle move by the President to move to the Jubilee House at a period that many Ghanaians are facing perhaps the most harrowing economic recession of all times.

As we juxtapose the President’s move to the Jubilee House with that of his campaign criticism against the construction of the edifice, we ask whether the President is moving to the Jubilee House because the living standards of the ordinary Ghanaian has improved.

The reality of the situation is that the living standard of the average Ghanaian has plummeted to an all time low, perhaps compared only to the great recession period of the Kutu Acheampong era of the late 70’s and the 1983 hunger period of the PNDC regime where yellow corn became a major staple food for Ghanaians.

The National Security Co-ordinator, Brigadier (ret’d) Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, recently told Ghanaians that the current security arrangement at the Jubilee House comes nowhere near that of the Castle. He was blunt that it would not be prudent for the Ghanaian President to work in a condition where persons would be driving around the Jubilee House. He noted that this would be tantamount to exposing the President to high security risks.

Nothing seems to have changed since the Brigadier’s pronouncement, yet the President did not only go to the Jubilee House for office duties, but indeed received diplomats. Will there be another explanation from the Security Chief?

Presidential Spokesperson Mahama Ayariga was at his best explaining to the media the President’s decision to use the Jubilee House. He saw nothing wrong with the President using two facilities-the Castle and the Jubilee House as his offices. The young man could not imagine the cost and time implications of the President’s actions.

In his estimation, it is the same Castle Security detail that the President uses at the Jubilee House. Interesting! It is as if telling Ghanaians that, members of the Castle Security walked to the Jubilee House. If even they did, have we considered the loss of man hours to the work at the presidency? What about the vehicles? Ayariga is not suggesting that the movement of the presidential convoy from the Castle to the Jubilee House and back would not have any effect on the operational cost at the presidency.

Often times people seeking political office prove to be untruthful lot to Ghanaians. Otherwise how would Prof Mills use the building of a national asset like a presidential mansion as the basis of his criticism of a non-performing administration?

The fact is that funds are allocated for every sector of the economy and what should gain our attention is how to make people accountable for the usage of such funds.

Indeed the money for the rehabilitation of the Flagstaff House (Jubilee House) was sourced separately overseas for that purpose and if at any point there is the need to raise issues with the project, that should be done on the basis of enough evidence that the amount had been misapplied or misappropriated.

After all people are hungry, yet governments have a responsibility to construct roads; people are starving, yet governments are expected to build hospitals; people are dying of hunger, yet governments are duty-bound to build schools and offer enough protection to the citizenry.

In the midst of all the problems, there should be systematic arrangements where every sector receives enough attention, rather than resorting to the cheap political thinking that, in fact, cannot stand the test of time.

As the leader of the opposition NDC, then candidate Mills was all daggers against the decision of President Kufuor for what they termed as the usage of state funds to provide the installation of security gadgets on the private residence of the former President. That was when former President Kufuor decided to use his private home as his official office.

But do we have to blame President Kufuor? Any objective person would appreciate that Ghana has no official residence for the presidency and that is how come many former Ghanaian leaders decided where to operate as their official residence offices.

Kwame Nkrumah used the Flagstaff House; General Ankrah used the Castle; Busia used his private South Odorkor residence; General Acheampong used the Arrakan Barracks and the Castle, Limann used the Castle, Rawlings used both the Gondar Barracks and the Castle with Kufuor using his North Airport residence.

This is in contrast to what pertains in other countries like the United States and other African countries. The United States has the White House; Liberia has the Mansion while Nigeria, just to mention a few, has the Aso Rock. Particularly, Ibrahim Babangida, the former Nigerian military leader, who decided to build the Aso Rock, received the unkindest of flaks for his decision.

Babangida would not even enjoy the luxury of the luxurious state facility. Yet Nigerians have accepted Aso Rock as the official residence of the Nigerian President and they are moving on with their lives. That way, no Nigerian President can decide on where to live because the State has provided for one.

The usage of the Castle, as far as TODAY is concerned, is not only insulting, but also dehumanizing to the integrity of the office of a Ghanaian President. A colonial edifice that was used to carry out the dastard slave trade is certainly not fit to house a President of Ghana. And none should think by operating from the Castle, Ghana has a fitting residence for its sitting President.