The demolition of the structure that housed the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly from 1951 when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the leader of government Business under British rule, has revived concerns about how the country protects its heritage sites.

[contextly_sidebar id=”FlCTOtsJnCwDptKs15aLMs8R4VXBE5Kv”]Speaking at a press soiree in Accra, the Majority Leader argued that it was better to pull down the structure than leave it in its previous state.

“That structure was gutted by fire sometime back, but sometimes when you want to do a rehabilitation of a structure that has been gutted by fire, the integrity of which structure might have suffered tremendously, you do not go about reinforcing the existing structure. It is better you pull it down. I guess that might have informed the decision to pull it down and rebuild a new structure to replace it,” Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu explained.

“Remember when we came to dealing with our own Job 600 complex. Some of us argued at the time that what commitment was going to go into it, we could better save to perhaps demolish the structure and begin a new one. At the beginning, when that structure was valued, it was said that it was going to cost us about $25 million to refurbish. You know the total cost of the rehabilitation of Job 600 when we finished? It is close to 100 million dollars. If we had demolished it and reconstructed that edifice, how much was it going to cost us?” he added.

Although some key stakeholders have criticized the demolition, CHRAJ has since defended its decision, saying the move was aimed at protecting the health and safety of its workers.

CHRAJ was accused of usurping the authority of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly by proceeding to demolish the Chamber and adjoining offices of the Old Parliament House in Accra, without getting the required permit from the AMA.

The Commissioner of CHRAJ, Joseph Whittal in explaining the circumstances under which the building was pulled down however explained that: “Since the burning in 2013, that section has posed a health hazard, indeed every person who works around those places knows that indeed this is unhealthy because we are breathing in the fumes and all those things.”

“The part that is burnt is beyond recovery and so since 2013, we have made efforts to have this taken out. We have informed the AMA, unfortunately, we’ve not had funds, it is only this year that we had funds from the central government to demolish and reconstruct the old Chamber and the adjoining offices.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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According to him, the unilateral decision to pull down the structure was not in the best interest of the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”SI5ctb96uAmKitdbG5YHR3s9fZ4amUYP”]The legislator, in whose constituency the facility was located said he was surprised that the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice did not consult him before taking the decision.

Many Ghanaians on Monday awoke to the shocking news of the demolition of portions of the structure which housed the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly from 1951 when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the leader of Government Business under British rule.

The former Minister for Youth and Sports said he has informed the Ga Traditional Council about the development, as well as the Minority caucus for a plan to be fashioned out on the way forward.

“I am scandalized, annoyed and seriously outraged by this news. As a stakeholder, if any decision of the kind was to be taken, we should have been consulted at least. As a Member of Parliament for the area, at least I have a relationship with the old parliament house. I have decided to file a question to the Speaker when we resume Parliament to make sure that we bring before the house the people who did that to explain to us who granted them the permission to carry out this demolition,” he said.

“I’ve informed the caucus and the Ga Traditional Council and if it demands that we file a petition to the office of the President and the Speaker of Parliament and any other important state organization, we will do that. I’m ready to put my parliamentary seat on the line to fight for this,” the legislator added.

The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Accra, Adjei Sowah, in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, said the news of the demolition came to him as a “surprise” because CHRAJ had not obtained the necessary permission to undertake the demolition.

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By: Philip Nii Lartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the decision, although was without the permission of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), was taken to protect the health and safety of the workers of CHRAJ.

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), was accused of usurping the authority of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly by proceeding to demolish the Chamber and adjoining offices of the Old Parliament House in Accra, without getting the required permit from the AMA.

The demolished building is an old structure that housed the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly from 1951 when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the leader of Government Business under British rule.

Joseph Whittal in explaining the circumstances under which the building was pulled down, told Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show that, “the Old Parliament House is still standing. What is being pulled down is the old parliamentary chamber and the adjoining offices that were used by CHRAJ and the judgment debt commission.”

He said, “Since the burning in 2013, that section has posed a health hazard, indeed every person who works around those places knows that indeed this is unhealthy because we are breathing in the fumes and all those things.”

“The part that is burnt is beyond recovery and so since 2013, we have made efforts to have this taken out. We have informed the AMA, unfortunately, we’ve not had funds, it is only this year that we had funds from the central government to demolish and reconstruct the old Chamber and the adjoining offices,” he added.

He said he believes it was not fair for the exercise to be delayed at the expense of the health of the Commission’s staff.

He said he was optimistic that the AMA would grant them the permit although they have to a large extent already carried out the demolition without their permission.

“I have followed the law, we applied to the AMA since June, and I hope they grant it; but we were working within a certain budgetary period, if we are not able to clear it, we will continue to miss our target…. I expect that the AMA Mayor will grant it… We are going to ensure that we reenact how the Chamber was,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, which has described the move by CHRAJ as illegal, says it is meeting to take a decision on it.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The AMA said CHRAJ failed to acquire the permit needed for the demolition of a historic building.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BDCvteqJzLtdW1f4zuJpPSXtHNoegjVh”]Many Ghanaians on Monday woke up to the shocking news of the demolition of the structure which housed the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly from 1951 when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the leader of Government Business under British rule.

The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Accra, Adjei Sowah,, in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show, said the news of the demolition came to him as a “surprise”.

According to him, CHRAJ, which occupies some offices in the building complex had written to the Assembly to seek permission to demolish the structure.

He said the AMA did not immediately grant the permit but sought further engagements with CHRAJ on the matter.

“It has come to me as a surprise because sometime last month CHRAJ wrote a letter to us indicating their intention to demolish the property… so we wrote back to them that the property in question is a national asset and it is important that we get clearance from the government because that particular property was once an AMA property where it was a City Hall. Then they wrote back to us about a week ago that they were established by an act of parliament and were given that property,” he said.

“We are yet to meet to respond to that… I have not heard anything from them again. We are actually in a meeting with my management discussing the matter. State agencies should also know better and act in accordance with law. If you want to pull down that building you need a permit from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly before you do that, and they have not gotten the permit yet before acting on that, ”he added.

He said the unilateral decision by CHRAJ warrants a punitive measure, but added that members of the Assembly were meeting to take a decision on their line of action.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post CHRAJ illegally demolished Old Parliament House – AMA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The demolition will pave the way for a new one to be constructed at a cost GH¢15 million.

The amount is part of the budgetary allocation of GH¢37,816,401 approved by Parliament for the implementation of the activities and programmes of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

Cymain Ghana Limited, the firm undertaking the demolition, began the exercise yesterday [Sunday], and it is expected to be completed on Wednesday.

When the Daily Graphic visited the site, the Old Parliament House had been barricaded while a notice had been posted on the premises to advise people to stay away from possible dangers.

Only officials of Cymain Ghana Limited were allowed to have access to the site. About 10 workers were seen removing old and broken equipment for the bulldozers to destroy the over 50-year-old building.

As the bulldozers descended on the building which was constructed in the early 1950s, it was certain that Ghana was losing one of its historical landmarks.

The building, which housed the Citizens Vetting Committee (CVC), the Judgement Debt Commission, the CHRAJ and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) caught fire in December 2013 and had parts of it destroyed, making it unsafe for people to occupy.

Officials tight-lipped 

An attempt to find out more about the demolition exercise proved futile as no official was willing to disclose information concerning the pulling down of the building.

However, one of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would take three days for the building to be pulled down. He was unwilling to share any further information.

There were no officials at CHRAJ to speak to because they had earlier been told not to report to work to allow the construction firm to carry on with the demolition.

History 

Situated exactly opposite the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra, the Old Parliament House accommodated Ghana’s legislators from the era of Dr Kwame Nkrumah till 1981 when the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) ousted the government of the People’s National Party (PNP) under the leadership of Dr Hilla Limann.

Before then, it had housed the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly from 1951 when Dr Nkrumah became the leader of Government Business under British rule.

The Old Parliament House, during the revolutionary days, also housed the offices of the erstwhile Committee for the Defence of the Revolution under the PNDC.

On the day of the country’s political independence, March 6, 1957, the government invited functionaries, including the Duchess of Kent and the Prime Minister of Britain, Mr Harold Macmillan, to grace the occasion at the Old Parliament House.

On the eve of independence on March 6, 1957, Dr Nkrumah declared independence at the Old Polo Grounds, opposite the Old Parliament House.

Today, the edifice houses the offices of CHRAJ, while Parliament has been relocated to the State House.

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Source: Graphic.com.gh

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