The Presidential Lodge as well as accommodation facilities of the Ashanti Regional Minister within the premises of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council are in ruins from neglect since 2017.
Situated on huge acres of land, the Presidential Lodge, which is close to the official residence of the Regional Minister and commissioned in 2004 by ex-President Kufuor, is outgrown by weeds, an indication that the facility built with taxpayers’ money is under-utilised and currently looks more like a white elephant.
The facilities have not been in use for the past eight years, with the excuse that they were not habitable and needed to be renovated, yet no effort was made to make it habitable.
While the required renovation was waiting, the Regional Minister stayed at his private residence to report for government business on a daily basis, even though the same bungalow had been in use by previous Ministers over the years.
It was occupied by Mr Eric Opoku, Mr Samuel Sarpong and later Mr John Alexander Ackon during their tenures as Ashanti Regional Ministers, in the previous NDC regime.
Official sources at the RCC told The Chronicle in 2017 that budgetary estimates had been sent to the Ministry of Finance for release of funds which never came.
As at April 2021, when The Chronicle checked for the second time, funds had not been released, even though the budget estimates had allegedly been approved by the Finance Ministry.
Last week, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC, Augustus Nana Akwasi Andrew and his team visited the RCC to assess the current state of the residential accommodation at the residency, only to find out that the facilities were rotting away.
He was not satisfied with the state of the facilities, which seemed completely abandoned over the years. He pledged that persons entrusted with the maintenance of the facilities would be questioned for answers and sanctioned.
The Regional NDC scribe, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, assured that the facilities would be renovated as soon as possible to enhance government business in the region, but not until an investigation is launched into the matter.
Meanwhile, The Chronicle has also gathered that the No. 7 Ellis Avenue, at Nhyiaeso, in Kumasi, the official residence of the Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), is also in shambles, over the same period of time.
The facility, which has undergone several renovations since 2001 cannot be occupied, compelling the mayor of Kumasi to put up in his private residence, until the seemingly abandoned official residence is ready for occupation.
The three-bedroom No 7. Ellis Avenue apartment had accommodated past mayors including; Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah and Miss Patricia Appiagyei under the Kufuor-led NPP and Mr Samuel Sarpong and Mr Kojo Bonsu in the first NDC administration.
In most cases, the facility had been renovated at a huge cost to the assembly before occupation by each of the named mayors.
Similarly, the residence at No. 7 Ellis Avenue at Nhyiaeso is also awaiting renovation.
