Audio Attachment:Listen to Nana Akomea's submission on CitiFM |
Director of Communication for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea, believes the furore over the outhouse being constructed by Regimanuel Gray Estate Limited for the security detail stationed at President Millsďż˝ private residence on the Spintex Road, could have been avoided had President Mills take up official residence at the Jubilee House.
The Searchlight newspaper, on Monday August 15th, published on its front-page with a screaming headline; �Manifesting The Better Ghana�Mills Grabs Brand New Mansion!
According to the story, the building has several rooms and the latest of comforts and is situated on a piece of previously bare land which is behind the Asanfra Street residence of the President.
Though this turned out to be wholly untrue, Director of Communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho, in rubbishing the story, stated on Adom FM on Monday, August 15th, that Regimanuel Gray �as the land owners �told the president that we will do a little extension at your backyard so the security men will have a better place of convenience. That is it; it is the developers, you can call Regimanuel Gray people and they will tell you they themselves have decided to build this as a token for the president.�
However, on Tuesday, after leading a team of journalists from the Presidential Press Corps to tour the place, Mr. Anyidoho clarified that Regimanuel Gray decided to put up the outhouse which comprises �toilets, bath houses and a bedroom or two' after the President first brought up the idea.
After reading copiously from a series of correspondence between the President and Regimanuel Gray on the construction of the facility, he further stated that �Regimanuel Gray is bearing the initial cost and per the tenancy agreement, the president, would make good the repayment to Regimanuel Gray�.
But speaking in an interview with Shamima Muslim on Citi EyeWitness News, Nana Akomea questioned why workers are still being maintained at the Jubilee House, when President Mills is not prepared to take up residence at the place.
To him, the media cannot be faulted for the brouhaha generated by the initial report, adding that even the explanations offered have not been convincing enough.
�Initially, we were told that the construction was a gift...then it went to a token and now we are being told that the construction is on rental basis�why will the President pay for something which is being done for the state? There are all kinds of ambiguities to be cleared. We don�t know the truth as at now. Media people take all sorts of angles on an issue and so matters will rest if the information is clear enough because as we speak, there are three versions on the issue. However, we would have saved ourselves all these if the President was living at the Jubilee House�� Nana Akomea said.
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However, in a sharp riposte, Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa countered that it is entirely possible that if the President was residing at the Jubilee House, this Brouhaha could still have arisen. According to him, as long as it is the President�s private residence under discussion, the issue would still have come up one way or the other.
He accused the media of mischief in publishing the story with an image unrelated to the facility.
�Nana Akomea wants us to believe that all of this is ambiguous and that is not the issue. We don�t have an argument here�what we should be worried about is that websites and other media houses puts out an edifice portraying the President�s mansion; meanwhile, that is not the case. Where is the mansion�?� he asked.
Source: Rebecca Quaye/Peacefmonline.com
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