Beautifying Jubilee House And Environs: Whose Duty Is It?

Ghana’s seat of government, the Jubilee House, is probably the most magnificent presidential palace in Africa. Not only does it house the country’s first family and give official space to hundreds of presidential staffers; but it is also a national pride and a tourist site.

It is for these reasons that everything needs to be done by the state to give it the ‘sight’ it deserves, especially in the eyes of our teeming tourists.

Unfortunately, while the internal section of the palace is getting the needed daily attention, the same cannot be said of its immediate environs.

Situated along the prestigious Liberation Road, a structure directly opposite the edifice, which has been ‘neglected’ for decades, has now succeeded in taking away the exquisiteness of the entire citadel.

On a trip from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange, right to National Theater area in Accra, it is a known fact that, the regional police barracks, opposite the seat of government, is arguably the most unkempt structure along that stretch of the ceremonial road.

Incidentally, the barrack is a government property, whose rehabilitation and beautification shouldn’t ordinarily have been of any problem at all, more so when the Interior Minister and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) ply that stretch regularly.

If for nothing at all, the Interior Minister, who happens to be a cabinet minister, attends cabinet meetings at the Office of the President almost every other Thursday, and one would expect that such a ‘national eyesore’ would not escape his attention.

THE PUBLISHER is worried that apart from the failure of authorities to give the edifice the needed attention from the outside, the media is also reporting other shameful developments within the vicinity of the Jubilee House.

Just this Monday, the media captured how the glaring filth that has engulfed Accra seems to be spreading to the presidential palace. THE FINDER newspaper exposed a shocking scene of how road sweepers and garbage collectors had left piles of refuse uncollected along the principal streets of the capital, including the frontage of Jubilee House.

The reports said the piles of garbage were cleared with alacrity, only after the story was published in the media.

In our view, it is a shame that, barely two weeks to our 62^nd independence anniversary, we are still battling with sanitation, let alone the beautification of our cities.

And regarding the police barrack directly opposite the main entrance to the Jubilee House, we think a mere landscaping and painting of the place will not only add grandeur to it, but also go a long way to boost the morale of the hundreds of police officers who see that place as their abode.

THE PUBLISHER, however, finds it relieving, a recent report that plans are far advanced for Jubilee House to go green by August this year, as government intends to power it with renewable energy sources.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who made the disclosure during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) last week, said the action would reduce government’s expenditure on utilities, adding that government targets to install up to 200 megawatts of distributed solar power by 2030 in both residential and non-residential facilities across the country.

While we commend government for the efforts make Jubilee House green and pollution-free, we think some consideration must also be given to the immediate environs to make the entire place a more worthy tourist site.