Jubilee House | |
---|---|
Former names | Flagstaff House |
Alternative names | Golden Jubilee House |
General information | |
Location | Accra, Ghana |
Inaugurated | November 2008 |
Cost | $ 35–50 million |
Owner | Government of Ghana |
Jubilee House, is the presidential palace in Accra that serves as a residence and office to the President of Ghana. [1] Jubilee House is built on the site of a building that was constructed and used for administrative purposes by the British Gold Coast Government. The previous seat of government of Ghana was Osu Castle. It was named Golden Jubilee House by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on 29 March 2018 to coincide with the 50th year of Ghana's independence. It has since reverted to Jubilee House. [2] It has previously been known as The Flagstaff House.
The Flagstaff House, as it was previously known, was reconstructed and inaugurated by the government of John Agyekum Kufour with the name Golden Jubilee House in November 2008 when construction was about 70%–80% completed. [3] In January 2009, the incoming government of President John Atta Mills moved the office of the president back to Osu Castle and later changed the sign in front of the building back to its original name [4] claiming that the previous government had not used a Legislative Instrument to effect the change as required by law. [5] The Mills government was in turn criticized that the name Flagstaff House which was given to the building by the British Gold Coast government glorifies Ghana's Gold Coast past. [6] The seat of government was moved back to Flagstaff House in January 2013 by John Dramani Mahama. [7]
The original budget for the reconstruction of $30m was a grant from the Indian government. However, BBC journalist David Amanor reported the construction may have cost as much as $45–50m. Building of the palace was overseen by an Indian contractor who used Ghanaian sub-contractors. [1]
The re-construction of the presidential palace and building by the government of John Agyekum Kufour, who belonged to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), was criticized by the opposition party National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2008 elections. [14] The NDC government when sworn into office on 7 January 2009 refused to utilize Flagstaff House, preferring Osu Castle as the seat of government. [15] The house was temporarily used as offices for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [16]
Politics of Ghana takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Ghana is both head of state and head of government, and of a two party system. The seat of government is at Golden Jubilee House. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and Parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He became the Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008 and his victory over John Evans Atta Mills at the end of Jerry Rawlings' second term marked the first transition of power in Ghana from a democratic government to another democratic government.
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Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 2017. He previously served as Attorney General from 2001 to 2003 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2007 under the Kufuor-led administration.
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Samuel Abu Jinapor, is a Ghanaian lawyer and a politician. He is a member of the New Patriotic Party and the Member of Parliament for the Damongo Constituency. In 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo appointed him as Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations at the Office of the President, at the age of 33, the youngest in the history of Ghana to occupy such a position. He is currently the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and assumed position as caretaker Minister of Trade and Industry on 16 January 2023.
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Jean Adukwei Mensa is a Ghanaian lawyer by profession who has been serving as chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana since July 2018. She was nominated by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo to take over the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) from her predecessor, Charlotte Osei. Jean Mensa was born on November 12, 1971. Prior to assuming the role of chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa spent an 18-year career at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), rising to the position of executive director. As the EC chairperson, Jean Mensa declared the then presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP as the president-elect of the December 7th, 2020 Presidential Election.
General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2020. Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was re-elected in the first round after securing a majority of the votes. Former President John Dramani Mahama announced that he would contest the results. At the Supreme Court, a petition challenging the result was filed on 30 December, and unanimously dismissed on 4 March 2021 for lack of merit.
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