Golden Jubilee House, or Jubilee House, is the presidential palace in Accra that serves as a residence and office to the

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential el ...

. Jubilee House is built on the site of a building that was constructed and used for administrative purposes by the British Gold Coast Government. The previous seat of government of Ghana was

Osu Castle Osu Castle (also known as Fort Christiansborg or the Castle) is a castle located in Osu, Ghana on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in Africa. A substantial fort was built by Denmark-Norway in the 1660s, thereafter the fort changed ownership ...

. It was renamed Golden Jubilee House by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on 29 March 2018. It has previously been known as The Flagstaff House.

History

The Flagstaff House was reconstructed and inaugurated by the government of

John Agyekum Kufour John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been spe ...

with the name Golden Jubilee House in November 2008 when construction was about 70%–80% completed. In January 2009, the incoming government of President

John Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...

moved the office of the president back to

and later changed the sign in front of the building back to its original name claiming that the previous government had not used a Legislative Instrument to effect the change as required by law. The Mills government was in turn criticized that the name Flagstaff House which was given to the building by the British Gold Coast government glorifies Ghana's Gold Coast past. The seat of government was moved back to Flagstaff House in January 2013 by

John Dramani Mahama John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who served as President of Ghana from 24 July 2012 to 7 January 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012, and took office as pres ...

Construction cost

The original budget for the reconstruction of $30m was a grant from the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. However, BBC journalist David Amanor reported the construction may have cost as much as $45–50m. Building of the palace was overseen by an Indian contractor who used Ghanaian sub-contractors.

Notable events

* On 24 February 1966, soldiers stormed Flagstaff house as part of a military coup ousting Ghana's First President Kwame Nkrumah in a coup supported by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. * In 2002, thousands of Liberian women led by

Leymah Gbowee Leymah Roberta Gbowee (born 1 February 1972) is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her ef ...

staged a silent protest outside the previous presidential palace in Accra and demanded a resolution to the country's civil war. Their actions brought about an agreement that achieved peace in Liberia after a 14-year civil war. The story is told in a 2008

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

called ''

Pray the Devil Back to Hell ''Pray the Devil Back to Hell'' is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Gini Reticker and produced by Abigail Disney. The film premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Documentary. The film had its thea ...

'' *On 4 June 2017, President

took then President-elect

Nana Akufo-Addo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...

on a tour of the Jubilee house. *On 26 July 2017, Mrs.

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, (born 7 December 1958) is a Maltese politician who served as President of Malta from 2014 to 2019. She has been president of Eurochild since 2019. Previously, as a member of the Labour Party, Coleiro Preca was a Me ...

, president of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and her spouse, Edgar Preca visited the Jubilee House. *On 6 April 2018, Mr. George M. Weah, President of Liberia, visited the Jubilee house. *On 22 October 2018, Brigadier (Rtd.) Julius Madaa Bio, president of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

visited the Jubilee House. *On 2 November 2018, Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla visited the Jubilee House.

Re-construction

The re-construction of the presidential palace and building by the government of John Agyekum Kufour, who belonged to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), was criticized by the opposition party National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2008 elections. The NDC government when sworn into office on 7 January 2009 refused to utilize Flagstaff House, preferring

as the seat of government. The house was temporarily used as offices for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."Golden Jubilee House renamed Flagstaff House"
. ''myjoyonline.com''. 3 August 2010.

References

External links

Breaking news: Flagstaff House renamed Golden Jubilee House by Nana Addo
YouTube video {{Coord, 5, 34, 47.1, N, 00, 11, 18.5, W, display=title Government of Ghana Presidential residences Houses completed in 2008 Buildings and structures in Accra Government buildings in Ghana Official residences in Ghana 2008 establishments in Ghana