Konadu House Wahala Deepens

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguide.com
Friday, 01 October 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The controversy surrounding renovation works carried out on the private residence of the mother in-law of former President Jerry John Rawlings is far from over.

Yesterday, Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah appeared before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to answer questions relating to comments he made about the renovation works on former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings’s mother’s house.

He virtually contradicted what his colleague deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim-Boateng had earlier told the Commission that government indeed did some considerable renovation on the said building located at the Nyaniba Estates in Osu, Accra, to enable Konadu and her family to perch at her mother’s place after fire razed down the Rawlingses’ Ridge residence.

Whilst Mr. Agyenim-Boateng had claimed that government only did some painting works on the house, Dr. Omane-Boamah said there was more to it than the mere painting since “it was not just painting but something extra was also done.”

Though he could not give the details of what exactly went into the renovation works, Omane Boamah, a medical doctor-turned politician, told the Commission that apart from the painting, some security features were also put in place.

But sources close to businessman Herbert Mensah, who claims to have paid for the renovation works at the said house and had receipts to justify how much he expended on it, said he was extremely surprised at the spin that government was trying unsuccessfully to put on the renovation.

The source said Mr. Mensah was prepared to produce the receipts whenever the need arose and therefore challenged government to make any such receipts available to the Commission, if any, to back their claim of having painted the house and fitted it with some security equipment.

In a related development, the pressure group, Ghana Youth Movement (GYM) which petitioned CHRAJ to investigate the case has also asked the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to investigate Herbert Mensah for what they claim to be ‘false misrepresentation’ in the same case for possible prosecution.

A petition presented to the SFO and signed by Nana Prempeh Agyemang, Kwabena Tandoh and Paa Kwasi Boateng said the statement by Mr. Agyenim-Boateng at the previous hearing to the effect that government did some renovation works on the house, contradicted Mr. Mensah’s claim.

GYM said “It will be prudent to investigate his said involvement in this matter and if proven to be false claim, then he should be prosecuted as stated in our criminal code that false misrepresentation is a crime.”

Mr. Mensah however declined to respond to any of these statements when DAILY GUIDE contacted him.

Kufuor Jet Lands

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Friday, 01 October 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu

The much-awaited Presidential jet, Falcon 900EX Easy aircraft whose inauguration was postponed because of a delay in its arrival, has finally touched down at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.

Sources at KIA told DAILY GUIDE that the aircraft, whose acquisition became the subject of a heated debate between members of the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration and the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2008, arrived yesterday at exactly 5pm.

This was confirmed by Defence Public Relations (DPR) Director Colonel Akintande Mbawine.

At press time yesterday, the DPR was said to be preparing a statement to the media.

The aircraft is thus expected to be outdoored at what promises to be a colourful ceremony any time soon, after officials of the Armed Forces take delivery of it.

In the absence of President Mills, who is currently in Japan in search of financial assistance, Vice President John Dramani Mahama was expected to perform the inauguration of the jet. But it was cancelled at the last minute when the military authorities were not sure of the arrival of the jet.

The Falcon 900EX Easy Aircraft was purchased by the Kufuor administration to replace the Fokker 27, otherwise referred to as the ‘flying coffin’ that the Ghana Air Force had used for the past 37 years as a presidential jet.

It was scheduled to be outdoored on Thursday, September 23, but had to be postponed because the jet could not arrive in the country as earlier reported.

The acquisition of the jet by the Kufuor administration attracted criticisms from the then opposition NDC who questioned the rationale for the plane at a time when the NDC claimed critical sectors of the economy, such as health and education, were badly in need of funding.

However, when Professor Mills took over the reins of government, the plane was configured to his specifications.

President Kufuor refused to use a Gulf Stream Presidential jet acquired by the Rawlings administration because its transaction was shrouded in mystery. He therefore began the process of acquiring the US$37million Falcon 900 presidential jet and an Airbus for the Ghana Air Force in 2007.

We Painted Konadu Mum’s House - Minister

Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
It seems there is some confusion in government or a deliberate attempt not to tell Ghanaians the truth about the renovation works carried out by the Mills administration on the private residence of the mother of former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.

This became evident when a deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim-Boateng appeared before the Commission on Human Rights and Administration Justice (CHRAJ) to answer questions about the issue which became a matter of public interest, when the Ridge residence of former President Rawlings was razed down by fire on Valentine’s Day, this year.

Mr. Agyenim-Boateng told CHRAJ yesterday that some works including painting were carried out on the private residence of the mother in-law of former President Rawlings at Nyaniba Estates, Osu, Accra.

But government, in a statement to the commission, said no state funds were used for the renovation, raising questions about the credibility of the deputy minister.

Agyenim-Boateng, in reaction to a statement that the former first couple was homeless after the February 14 fire, had said that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had spent money to renovate the private residence of Mrs. Agyemang to enable Nana Konadu to stay with her.

This statement was greeted with a petition by a pressure group, Ghana Youth Movement (GYM), in which its spokesman, Kwabena Tandoh charged CHRAJ to investigate the use of state funds being used to renovate the said private residence.

The group said it was illegal and unacceptable for government to spend state funds on the private residence of the former First Lady or her mother.

CHRAJ Commissioner Emile Short sought to know the basis of Mr. Agyenim-Boateng’s claim during an interview he granted Joy FM, in which the latter stated that the government had indeed carried out some considerable amount of work on the said building.

CHRAJ had meanwhile received responses from the office of the President and the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing indicating that no state resources were used in the renovation works on the former First Lady’s mother’s private residence at the Nyaniba estates.

But Mr. Agyenim-Boateng contradicted this other official account, insisting that at least some renovation works were carried out on the said residence at government’s expense.

“I have said that at least painting was done. That I still want to stay on the records,” he told CHRAJ.

Herbert Mensah, a businessman and close pal of the former First family, had said that he paid for the renovation works on the said house after fire razed down their Ridge-based official residence but had not been reimbursed by government.

The deputy Minister of Information said he could not tell which office funded or carried out the painting on the residence of Mrs. Agyeman because “it’s a security issue.

“Even though I serve as deputy Minister of Information, I am clearly not privy to every single issue that borders on the security.

There are issues that sometimes depending on the situation that one may or may not know. I think that clearly in this case, it is a security issue and the security people would have handled that. I don’t want to believe that My Lord, it took the former First family to move on their own.”

He added “the security authorities would have done reconnaissance, what they call Recce to be sure that they were taking them to a place that was safe and reasonably guarantee their safety” and “maybe what we are yet to hear is what the security authorities themselves have said about this issue.”

At the time he made those comments about the renovation works on the building, Mr. Agyenim Boateng told the Commission he was away on a duty tour in the Brong Ahafo region and that he was completely out of touch with base (his office in Accra) and therefore told Ghanaians what he knew about the issue.

This, he said, was because the state was duty-bound to ensure the safety of the former First family.

When asked whether his comments were based on facts or assumptions and where he got the information from, the deputy Minister insisted they were facts, noting “as deputy Minister I’m privy to all sorts of information within the set up.”