"Kufuor�s Men Are Fully Aware Of Gov�ts Plan To House Them� � Agyenim Boateng

A Deputy Minister of Information, James Agyenim Boateng has disclosed that a residential facility at the Airport Residential Area provided for by the State is under renovation for ex-President Kufuor and his family. According to him, a team from the ex-President�s office is aware of the goings-on as far as residential facilities for the ex-First Family is concerned. �The team has been in consultation with the National Security Council and a number of state officials to discuss issues concerning the security of the ex-President,� he added. He, however, stopped short of naming the members of the team representing the ex-President�s. Speaking to Joy FM in an interview, Mr. Agyenim Boateng said it was not advisable to disclose the exact location or address of the particular state property due to security considerations. �A state property off the Patrice Lumumba road is being renovated for the use of the former President. But I don�t have instructions at this point to disclose it,� he said. But the spokesperson for the Ex-President, Mr. Frank Agyekum, is strongly contesting this assertion by government. He has categorically denied any such meeting with the National security, even though Mr. Agyenim Boateng insists National Security has constantly been in touch with a team from former President Kufuor�s office. The Deputy Minister revealed that the allocation of the residential facility is based on recommendations as contained in the report by the Ishmael Yamson Committee set up by President Mills to review the emoluments or ex-gratia due to the former president. �The State property accommodation was based on the Ishmael Yamson�s Committee report submitted to government�.though it was based on that, the government did not have to wait for a committee�s report before allocating the property to the ex-president�Kufuor�s officers have refused to make the process work,� he stated. In a related development, Mr. Agyenim Boateng is accusing the former president�s outfit of deliberate dragging of feet regarding assessing the condition of some vehicles the state is offering Mr. Kufuor. According to him, on two occasions the former Chief of Staff, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, failed to turn up to inspect two Mercedes Benz vehicles the state is allocating to the ex-President, without any explanation. �As far back as May 2009 and few months later than that, the Mercedes Benz and Toyota V8 Land Cruiser vehicles were offered the ex-President�.These are the reasons why former President Kufuor is resorting to the use of his own vehicles�.It is not because government does not want to avail him any state vehicles for his use,� he explained.