“The party had to pay huge rents for occupying its former headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra; we found such expenditures wasteful. Per the calculations we made, we realized that it will be cheaper to build a new headquarters than spend huge sums of resources on rents.”
That was Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketsia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ghana’s ruling party, finally admitting, after repeated denials, that the party has built an ultra-modern office complex.
He would, however, not disclose how much the four-storey building cost to build, in the face of pervasive speculation by political opponents and controversy that it cost US$20 million.
But Mr Nketsia, speaking to the media, stoutly defended the decision to put up the new headquarters at Adabraka in Accra, saying, “it is more expensive to rent an apartment than build a new office.”
Flanked by some national and regional executive members of the party, including the National Organiser, Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan and the National Women’s Organiser, Ms Anita De-Sooso, Mr. Nketsia emphasised that the party executives “took this decision because the NDC has come to stay,”
The NDC, founded by former Ghana military strongman & democratic President, Jerry John Rawlings, has ruled Ghana for 14 years out of the 22 years of the Fourth Republic which was ushered inaugurated in 1992.
“Most of the party’s press conferences are held in hotels and rented spaces, which are very expensive but with our new office all these expenses will stop,” the general secretary said.
Mr Nketia, however, stopped short of disclosing how much it cost the party to build its new office complex, denying media allegations that it cost the party $20 million to build the new edifice.
Mr Asiedu Nketia disclosed that since building a new office for the party was more cost- effective than paying huge rents, the leadership of the party had directed all the regional executives of the party to also acquire new offices.
That, he said, would enable them to stop paying rent for apartments.
“Already our regional executives in the Ashanti and the Central regions have almost completed the construction of their new offices and those in the Western and Eastern regions have started the process to do the same,” he said.
On how the party raised funds to finance the new headquarters building complex, the General Secretary Nketsia declined to answer the question.
But it is not difficult to surmise these things in Africa – most likely kickbacks from contracts in the last six years in power.