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It may seem like a grudging gesture, but at least, I can see some signs of movement. The President has been putting the place to its intended use at last.

What the president ought to do is to speed up his own relocation to Jubilee House so that the space that would be freed at the Osu Castle would be the temporary home of the Foreign Ministry before we put up a new one for them.

What the President should do now is to announce the date of a formal relocation from Osu to Kanda so that we can all join him in celebrating the day. In fact, that could also go down in our history as something of a significant milestone: The Day Osu Castle Ceased Being the Seat of Government of Ghana. There’s no harm in claiming that credit; the date would be as significant in our history as the construction of the presidential complex itself.

And when he moves, the newness of the place would most definitely have a subliminal positive effect on the working ethos of the Presidency. I am sure the president himself would feel more relaxed with all that much space and modern conveniences.

Due to its rather foreboding and intimidating looks, the Osu Castle has always struck me as a place where not much innovation, creativity and productivity could come from – 52 years of underdevelopment was all hatched up there!

What they would miss, when they move from the Castle, though, would be those great seascapes and breezes from the Gulf of Guinea, but that’s a small price to pay for the efficiency that the new place would bring to governance. 

A few years ago, I was in Abuja and was privileged to find myself at the famous Aso Rock, seat of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I am proud to announce that our Jubilee House is the more superior, architecturally speaking, of the two! I do not intend to start any ECOWAS war on that, but looking at the executive mansions I have seen in the sub-region and elsewhere, our Jubilee House MUST be a source of pride for us, so it must be with a source of pride that President Mills would take up residence there, sooner than later…

One other executive set of offices I cannot get off my mind is the one at Putrajaya, the custom-built complex of buildings for the Malaysian Government. I went there as a guest when it was partially ready for occupancy – yes, believe it or not – a guest of the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed.

I was among a group of African editors invited to visit around the time the Asian financial crisis hit the Tigers. There is a little endearing detail, many people do not know about Mahathir that I brought from that trip. He is a fine writer.

A collection of articles he used to write for a newspaper (more like what I am currently engaged in) has been published as a book. I laid my hands on a copy and it’s become one of my cherished reading materials…Such a cultured man, he had a hand in the design and construction of Putrajaya, which Malaysians justifiably take pride in.

The time is coming, no let’s speed it up, in Ghana, when culture, good taste and sophistication, must take precedence over mediocrity born out of misplaced populism! Jubilee House, Aso Rock, Putrajaya, they are all buildings and what’s wrong with that?!

By Alhaji A Harruna Attah