The name of the seat of Government, Flagstaff House, has once again been changed.
The presidential edifice is now called Jubilee House, reverting to its original name given to it by the then President of the land, John Agyekum Kufuor, in the year 2007.
This follows an Executive Order by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo dated March 29, 2018, and which falls in line by the powers conferred on him by Article 58 of the 1992 Constitution.
A property known as Flagstaff House located on the premises of Jubilee House which served as the residence of the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, according to President Akufo-Addo, should be preserved and commemorated.
The magnificent presidential palace was built to serve as the seat of the Presidency by then President, John Agyekum Kufuor, in recognition of the country’s Golden Jubilee Anniversary in 2007.
Prior to the construction of Jubilee House, most of Ghana’s leaders lived and worked at the Christianborg Castle at Osu which was built by the Danes in 1661 as slave fort.
After Ghana became a Republic in 1960, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, moved into Flagstaff and stayed there throughout his Presidency.
Flagstaff House until then had been the residence not only for the colonial military officer commanding the West African Frontier Force in Four British West African colonies of Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, as was the case in other British colonies around the world, but also the residence of the Commander of Ghana’s Armed Forces immediately after independence.
After the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, on February 24, 1966, Flagstaff House was returned to the control of Ghana’s military and Christianborg Castle became, again, the seat of government.
Jubilee House is the first Presidential Palace built in independent Ghana to serve expressly as the seat of the President of Ghana.
However, the name of the presidential edifice was changed to Flagstaff House by President John Evans Atta-Mills of blessed memory when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) took over governance of the country in 2009.
Atta-Mills moved the office of the President back to the Christianborg Castle and changed the sign in front of the building back to Flagstaff Staff House claiming that the previous government had not used a Legislative Instrument to effect the change as required by law.
The change in name of the Presidential edifice back to Jubilee House is a campaign promised fulfilled by President Akufo-Addo.