President of Ghana - Residence

Residence

The President of Ghana's official residence was Osu Castle (also known as Fort Christiansborg or Christiansborg Castle) in Accra. In 2007, The opposition MPs in Ghana stormed out of a parliamentary debate on whether to take out a $50m loan to build a new presidential palace. MPs from President John Kufuor's New Patriotic Party voted unanimously in favour of taking the loan from India.

They argued that the President should not be based in Osu Castle, where slaves used to be kept. The opposition National Democratic Congress said the money would be better spent elsewhere. The old flagstaff house used by Ghana's first president as a residence is being renovated into a museum, while the grounds on which it stands is being built up as an ultra modern office complex and residence for the president and vice-president of Ghana as well as their staff. The new presidential palace was expected to be completed by August 2008 but was finally completed in November 2008. At the inauguration of the new presidential palace, President John Kufuor revealed to the press that the new name of the palace would be Golden Jubilee House. The chosen name had drawn lots of criticism from Ghanaians in the country and abroad. The name was chosen in reference to the 50th anniversary of Ghana's Independence.

The newly built residence has not been officially occupied by John Dramani Mahama. Although part of the office space has been given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is speculation that some of the work in the residency is not completed. The name has been changed to Flagstaff House.

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