Okudzeto Explains Mills’ Proposal To Scrap Building Houses For Ex-Presidents

Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has sought to clarify President Mills’ proposal for the scrapping of the policy that mandates the state to put up houses for ex-presidents saying...

...the proposal was not influenced by the recent decision by the two former Presidents, Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor to refuse government’s offer of a house at the Trasacco Valley Estates.

According to him, President Mills’ proposal was made more than a month ago.

President Mills is said to have proposed the immediate scrapping of the current arrangement which enjoins the state to build houses for presidents of the country after they have served their tenure. The president has suggested that rent allowances should rather be paid for them to cater for their accommodation.

The proposal was made to the Professor Ewurama Addy Committee set up by President Mills to deal with the whole issue of emoluments for Article 71 office holders.

Explaining further in an interview on Citi FM, the Deputy Information Minister stressed that the president made the suggestion thinking about the wellbeing and larger Ghanaian working group.

According to Mr. Ablakwa, the greatest honour for a president is the mere fact that he was voted for and elected by the people and not building plush mansions for him.

“the mere fact that the people have given you the nod to become the president is a noble act and an honour and not necessarily building a house…,” he said.

He denied that former Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor have rejected the plush mansions allocated them by the Mills administration at the exquisite Trasacco Valley Estates.

The Deputy Minister pointed out that no official communication has been made it on the offer of the two houses and therefore cannot be deemed as a rejection, despite spokespersons for the two former presidents publicly stating that the offer have been rebuffed by their bosses.

“We have not been officially communicated to by the two former presidents that they are rejecting the Trasacco Valley house…The keys are still with them and they have not replied our letter which we wrote offering them the house. The keys have not been returned to us…It is some aides who are speaking and we do not know if they have the consent of the former presidents and we do not know the bases for this rejection considering the fact that they have not returned the keys to us,” the deputy information minister claimed.