How Nkrumah's Prestige Flagstaff House Has Been Defaced With ‘Julorbi House’

Flagstaff House, the presidential residence for Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, is well-known worldwide for several reasons. Nkrumah, the architect of Ghana’s independence and statesman, lived and worked in the building constructed by the British colonial authorities which was used for administrative purposes. However, under the Akufo Addo-Bawumia’s government, the institution has lost its prominence, pride, and elegance, and has become a center of crime and corruption.

Since Akufo Addo took office in 2017, he became the first Ghanaian leader to cut many sods to start projects that would never be finished. He is also renowned for renaming establishments that have already been established. Therefore, I have never been interested in calling the old Flagstaff House Jubilee House, that doesn’t make sense to me. One can become a great leader by working hard, but Akufo Addo thinks that changing the name of an already-built institution makes him great.

The news Ghanaians and people worldwide are hearing from the Akufo Addo-Bawumia’s government is not the same as what was being reported by the Flagstaff House during the Nkrumah era, which was generating headlines worldwide. It is currently known that there are far too many crimes, money laundering, illicit mining, and pervasive corruption occurring. I am aware of how the place became Jubilee House, but I am not at all impressed by how it changed to "Julorbi House."

"Julor Bi House," which means "The son of a thief's house," is the moniker given to Akufo Addo due to the staggering number of corruption scandals that have surfaced since he was elected. Such a name is a very big disgrace to the president and his family. Since I lack proof that Edward Akufo Addo, the president's father, stole money from Ghana, I am unable to label him a thief. Therefore, I disagree that Jubilee House should be referred to as "Julorbi House"; instead, it should be called "Julor House," as Akufo Addo deserves it.

Many people found it difficult to understand me when I tried to explain that politicians like Akufo Addo, Ken Ofori-Atta, Mahamudu Bawumia and his wife Samira, and others were just power-hungry and used their influence to demonize John Mahama by portraying him as corrupt, incompetent and unfit to lead Ghana in 2016. Time will always tell, and how today, the NPP has collapsed Ghana's economy, businesses, and investments, can’t be compared to Mahama's greatest governance.

The president engaged in unlawful mining, one of his numerous criminal activities, which has devastated the country's major rivers and ecosystems. I remember when Ghanaians accused NPP Bernard Antwi-Bosiako of indulging in illicit mining within the country, and Akufo Addo immediately jumped to his defense. The international news organization Al Jazeera also investigated Akufo Addo's involvement in the documentary "Gold Mafia," which exposed the president as one of the criminal leaders in Africa involved in the illegal gold trade.

Ghanaians were taken aback by the arrest of presidential security officers from the Flagstaff House who were linked to armed robbery. Unfortunately, a lot of Ghanaians fail to see the extent to which these scandals have tarnished the reputation of the president and the prestigious institution many Ghanaians prefer to call "Jolorbi House." In my opinion, Akufo Addo can’t do anything about it because he knows that he is not the person he wants Ghanaians to know he is. The man is super corrupt.

However, I will plead with John Mahama to rename the institution Flagstaff House if, by God's grace, he becomes president again to regain its prestige.

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