<<Print>>

The John Institute of African Politics and Society has recommended naming the new Foreign Ministry complex after the late President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills as a symbol of his commitment to honest and decent politics. The new name will be an object lesson for generations unborn in the values of probity, accountability and stewardship in the pursuit of public affairs, the Institute stated in a signed press statement. According to the Institute, this act would be the first formal honour done to a politician whose calm, peace-loving demeanor was a true instance of patriotism and which struck a responding chord in Ghanaians who voted him into office in 2008. According to the statement signed by a spokesperson for the institute, Mr Colin Essamuah, � We have been compelled to comment on this matter because of the special circumstances leading to the official handing-over of the Foreign Ministry premises from the Chinese Government to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Monday, April 11, 2013. Situated at the Airport Residential Area, opposite the main entrance to the Kotoka International Airport, the five-story, 141-room office complex with all the facilities appropriate to the functions of the ministry, and enhanced fire-prevention furnishings, was completed on time, and is now the permanent office complex of the ministry. The ministry, hitherto, had been operating from a section of the Flagstaff House following a fire that gutted the old building near Tema Station in 2009. The parcel of land on which this new building has been built used to house the the International Students Hostel which was the dormitory for students from other African countries who were in Ghanaian secondary schools from the days of President Kwame Nkrumah. It was a place which held many historic memories of the days when the fire of African emancipation from colonial rule blazed brightly in the chests of the proud students from all over the continent who enjoyed our hospitality and educated themselves in our various institutions. Sometime in the Kufuor Regime, the hostel was closed down and the parcel of land rezoned for private residential purposes in line with the objects of the Accra Redevelopment Policy. On the assumption of office of the NDC government of the late President John Evans Atta Mills in January 2009, these transfers and conversions of state properties into private hands were all cancelled by President Mills in line with the social democratic beliefs of the party. The decision was later taken to construct the new Foreign Ministry on this same parcel of land. �It is clear to the John Institute that this decision by President Mills has now culminated in the successful end to this story with the inauguration of the new building. The new building is a gift from the people and government of the People�s Republic of China to the Ghanaian people, and they have indicated that they will provide in addition, a full set of furniture to complement their gift, and cement further the growing relations between the two countries. It is the considered view of the John Institute that the inauguration of the building is an excellent example of the transparent decency that the late President Mills brought to our politics and governance and described the building as a standing lesson in probity and accountability�, the statement said.