Vice Principal asks Mills to break silence...Over Kufuor`s new office

The Vice-Principal (administration) of the Berekum Teachers' Training College, Mr. Prince Marfo, has appealed to President John Evans Atta Mills to break his silence on the brouhaha that has generated in the acquisition of office accommodation by former President Kufuor.

Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview at Berekum, Mr. Marfo noted that if the issues were not properly handled, it would be a recipe for chaos and disunity with the attendant national disintegration.

According to him, just a word from Prof. Mills could cease the ruckus once and for all, for national peace to prevail for economic development.

He called on the Ga-Adangbe Youth Association, which claims they would not allow former President Kufuor to occupy the building, to take note that though the land belonged to them, it was also a fact that the state had acquired it, therefore for now, it is state property.

“The actions taken by the said youth, can divide the country in the sense that people from other parts of the country could decide who should live or occupy a property or land at a particular place,” he noted.

He was not happy that the President had kept quite on the issue, since other pressure groups from other parts of the country could also come out to make unnecessary demands to create tension that would derail the developmental agenda of the country.

Mr. Marfo noted that Accra was developed with resources from other parts of the country, like minerals, cash crops and food stuffs from the Ashanti, Western, Eastern, Brong-Ahafo, Northern and Volta regions.

He further submitted that at the moment there was the discovery of oil in the Western Region, which revenue would be used to develop the country, including Accra.

He warned that if the action of the Ga Youth was allowed to continue, people from the Western Region would also rise to protest that they would not allow revenue from the oil to be used to develop Accra.

The opinion leader stated that in the name of national unity, the chiefs and other opinion leaders from the Ga Traditional Area should come out to condemn the actions of the youth, adding that President Mills, who is constitutionally the custodian of all properties in the country, should speak on the matter for its amicable settlement.

According to Mr. Marfo, the assertion by the National Security Coordinator, Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (Rtd), that the bungalow, which is to be used by ex-president Kufuor, belonged to National Security, could be nullified by a word from President J. E. A. Mills, since it was under the control of the Presidency.

According to him, per Article 83 of the 1992 Constitution, the President of Ghana presides over the National Security Council, and therefore all the National Security apparatus work under him, so in a sense it is the Office of the President that controls the facilities, including the said bungalow.

He, however, wondered when the disputed bungalow became the property of the National Security.