Presidential Palace ready in 2 months

This is the main hall of Mr Kufuor's residence at the Airport Residential, Accra. With the palace ready in two months, would he move there?

The new Presidential Palace to serve as the seat of government will be ready in about two months, the President, John Agyekum Kufuor, has indicated.

He said the Presidential Palace was not meant for him as an individual but that it would serve as the offices and place of abode of the President.

The construction of the palace has attracted mixed reactions from the public. Some justified its construction, while others argued that the money for the project could have been used to serve other purposes.

Commenting on the construction of a new palace for Edinaman during a courtesy call on him by a delegation from the Edina Traditional Area at the Castle, Osu, yesterday, President Kufuor said the traditional palace was not meant for the chief as an individual, just as the Presidential Palace was not meant for him but for the state.

The delegation of the chiefs and people of the Edina Traditional Area led by Nana Kwadwo Conduah VI was at the Castle to express an appreciation to the President for the numerous projects his administration had initiated to develop the area.

Some of the projects for which the delegation was grateful are the dredging of the Elmina Lagoon and the upgrading of the Edinaman High School to a model one.

Others are the elevation of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirim District to a municipal status, as well as the proposed development of a fishing harbour at Elmina.

The President said the country's past leaders, such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Dr Kofi Busia and F1t Lt J.J. Rawlings, could not live with their families at the Christianborg Castle, which currently serves as the seat of government.

He said commuting between his private residence and the Castle was not the best and that it was important for the nation to put up a building which would serve as the offices and the place of abode for the President.

President Kufuor commended the chiefs for taking the initiative to build a palace for the traditional area, just as the government was constructing a new Presidential Palace for the state.

He said barring any unforeseen circumstances, the palace project would be ready in about two to three months.

Expressing appreciation to the delegation for its gesture, President Kufuor said the Portuguese government had decided to revive the relationship between Portugal and Ghana.

President Kufuor said, Portugal had decided to build a hotel near the Elmina Castle as part of efforts to boost tourism and solidify its relations with Ghana.

Nana Conduah said the projects would constitute some of the achievements of the Kufuor administration in the area and serve as living monuments of President Kufuor's leadership.

To complement the efforts to give Elmina a new look, Nana Conduah said the chiefs and people were constructing a new palace for Edinaman to replace the old one which was burnt in the 14th century by the colonial powers as a result of some misunderstanding between the people of Edina and the colonial authorities at the time.
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He used the occasion to extend an invitation to the President to attend I the upcoming Bakatue Festival and the 10th anniversary of his accession to the Edina Stool, scheduled to take place in July 2008.