Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama is all set to move next year into a new Presidential Palace here built with India's help.
After four years of dithering over what to do with the building, President Mahama has finally hinted that the seat of government will be shifted there in 2013. The foreign ministry, which is currently using it, will relocate to a new building being built with Chinese help.
Ghana's new presidential palace that has been built by an Indian company (Photo: IANS)
The new palace has gone through several controversies. First, then president John Atta Mills, decided not to use it after its completion, citing security reasons. This was in line with his campaign promise that he would not live there because the money spent on the building could have been used on other things to benefit the poor.
However, John Kufuor, under whose presidency the construction was initiated, praised the Indian government for providing the funds. There was also concern about its cost. Originally estimated at $36.9 million, the cost shot up to $135 million with the provision of additional facilities to enhance security.
The amount was part of a $60 million facility from the Indian government that has a 50 percent grant element, at an interest rate of 1.75 percent, repayable in 25 years, including a five-year moratorium.
The building's original name was changed from Jubiliee House to Flagstaff House. Shapoorji Pallonji of India was named as contractor of the project, which started in 2006 and was completed in 2008.
"Staff of the ministry of foreign affairs are to relocate from the administration block so that we can make a complete move to the Flagstaff House in 2013," President Mahama said at a Christmas party over the weekend.
"I have directed the chief of staff to supervise the correction of defects at the Flagstaff House as captured in the report of the committee I set up to assess the condition of the House." - IANS
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation Director General, Kandeh K. Yumkella, tells Rohit Vaid that India needs to export its green technologies to Africa and Latin America
For marginalized people in remote islands surrounded by the waters of Brahmaputra, health care comes sailing. Azera Parveen Rahman finds out how boat clinics reach out to the sick and needy
Solar Impulse, the solar-powered airplane with the weight of a small car, developed by Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, is attempting a world record in solar aviation
The wife of a porter, 38-year-old Sanuja Rajan, has won Rs. 1 crore in a TV reality show in Kerala. Life has come full circle for the woman, who has endured many hardships, says Sanu George
The scenic East Coast Road that connects Chennai with several tourist destinations has turned into a death trap due to increase in number of accidents. KP Subramanian analyses the problem
A small army of friends have joined hands to strengthen TWL under the banner of the Friends of Positive Journalism, a forum that was launched two years ago. P C Vinoj Kumar has the details
Ravi Kalra is a former taekwondo instructor whose NGO cares for senior citizens, and mentally challenged people. He carries on with his work though his family deserted him, says Rahul Vaishnavi
Is Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam playing a dangerous game of dividing Indians? He has been accused of instigating the North Indians against the people of Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that IPL matches involving Sri Lankan players, umpires and other officials should not be played in Tamil Nadu
Indian cricketers, including Dhoni and Sachin, let their hair down after their historic whitewash of Australia by zooming and careening around the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida
Student outfit warns IPL against fielding Sri Lankan players in Chennai. Political parties echo the demand as the ‘Boycott Sri Lanka’ campaign gains momentum and casts its shadow on cricket
The Weekend Leader captures the ongoing students’ struggle in Tamil Nadu in photographs, even as the protests appear to be taking the shape of a popular movement for creation of Tamil Eelam
A set of young girls in a sleepy hamlet in Assam stuck to their passion, playing soccer, despite societal disapproval. Today, many of them have brought fame to their village, says Abdul Gani
Sanitation is the last thing crisis managers provide to people displaced from homes by disasters. Now a former banker, Promita Sengupta , has come up with a quickly deployable toilet that has come handy for NGOs, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
A young innovator from Tamil Nadu aspires to create 50,000 jobs by popularizing his herbal mosquito repellent, ‘Hermo’, which repels mosquitoes effectively but does not harm humans as it is non-allergic and non-toxic, says P C Vinoj Kumar
Village Ways, launched by Manisha and Himanshu Pande on the principle of responsible tourism, helps urbanites have a real feel of rural life. Not a ‘home stay’ kind, the enterprise ropes in the locals as partners, says Kavita Kanan Chandra
Social work is no pizza business, it requires commitment and passion says Vidyaakar, who has been running a home in Chennai, Udhavum Karangal, for 30 years. Catherine Gilon met the Papa, who now has 1263 people, 314 of them kids, in his care
A young IAS officer mobilized Rs 40 lakh through Facebook to build a road in Manipur, earning the sobriquet ‘The Miracle Man’. Gaurav Sharma met Armstrong Pame to find out why he wanted to build the 100 km ‘People’s Road’ and how he did it
A grassroots innovator, Dharamveer Kamboj, has changed the lives of people from the barren land of Rajasthan to the dense forest of Nagaland by designing a food processor. Kavita Kanan Chandra explains how it works well for women and tribes
They call him the ‘glacier man’. Chewang Norphel of Ladakh built 12 artificial glaciers that prevented farmers in high altitudes from moving out of the villages in search of alternative livelihood. Akash Bisht profiles the visionary with grit
Identifying clothing as a basic necessity after food and shelter, a journalist couple, Anshu Gupta and Meenakshi, started a social venture, Goonj, providing ‘Cloth for Work’. Then they did more, reaching parts of 21 states, says Roohi Seghal
A father-daughter duo is turning rhinoceros dung into paper, which in turn has turned out to be an economically lucrative venture. Kavita Kanan Chandra explains how Elrhino, the micro-enterprise, will also help in wildlife conservation
