Let Rawlingses Stay At Adjiringano Residence-- AFAG; But Segbefia Says No

The Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Alex Segbefia says though a lot of suggestions have made regarding where to house the ex-President and his family, the immediate priority of the government now is to provide the Rawlingses with decent accommodation befitting their status. Political pressure group, the Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG), had proposed that since former President Rawlings had put up a huge edifice at Adjiringano, the state should only reinforce the security at that residence and housed the former First couple over there. �This move will also reduce cost and save the nation the time and energy to be expended in searching for a new place of abode for the Rawlingses,� Samuel Awuku, a member of AFAG suggested. But in an interview on CitiFM, the Deputy Chief of Staff pointed out that government does not know the state of that building and will not even consider that option now. �We have been asked to secure accommodation for the ex-President as soon as we can�.and that is what we are doing� We all know the tragic circumstances under which they lost their home�The Adjiringano home issue is a red herring; it does not come into this at all. It is an obligation on the part of the government to provide the Rawlingses an accommodation,� he stated. Mr. Segbefia stressed that though it �is likely the Ridge Residence of the Rawlingses might be renovated at some point,� the immediate �priority is the Fire Service to finish with its investigations and for government to house them.� �I�m not too sure (about renovating the Ridge Residence)�yes at some point. The immediate priority is�.investigations by the fire service�the concurrent priority is to house them�,� the Deputy Chief of Staff said. Mr. Segbefia also disclosed that investigations have already begun to ascertain the cause of the blazing inferno that razed down the Ridge residence of ex-President Rawlings. Fire completely gutted the former first family�s residence at Ridge, Accra on Sunday around 4:00am where several effects and personal documents dating back to 40 years were consumed by the blaze.