<<Print>>

Mrs. Regina Botwe, who signed one of the letters in the confusion-laden communications between the President and Regimanuel Gray Limited, is nonplused about why Ghanaians are showing so much interest in the �house-gift or rental� subject. For her, it is a non-issue which should not have reached the level it has now when there are more serious issues in the country. Good talk from a woman whose company owns hundreds of houses reserved for the mighty and the powerful in society. With her status, she can afford to remark insultingly to Ghanaians because they have intruded into a matter which lies at the bottom of the priority scale of the country in her estimation. The issue about the outhouse has become a very dangerous one, developing infected tentacles by the day. It is perhaps the turn of the lady under review to be sucked in as she makes such contemptuous remarks to her compatriots and opening up herself for attacks. Even before Ghanaians arrived at the veracity of whether the house was a gift or on a rental basis, the authenticity of the letter cropped up. And now Mrs. Botwe has jumped into the fray with her queries of Ghanaians for ignoring the real issues facing the country and finding time for a triviality. If she is wondering why busybodies like us are getting sucked into the outhouse matter, we wish to tell her that our concerns are informed by an obsession with STX and how to make housing affordable to the average Ghanaian without tears. Hear her: �There are so many important things to talk about in this country�. Ghanaians could not have been more insulted by the Regimanuel woman who, sounding ready to battle her compatriots for taking undue interest in her company�s gratis gesture to the President, added, �The company will not contract loans, pay interest and then be building houses and dash them.� We are not privy to the many good deeds her company showed Prof Mills since his status changed to that of President of the Republic of Ghana, as captured in his letter of gratitude to the company. We might never know for sure. To be fair to the lady, she has every right to get livid with Ghanaians whose tongue is set to damage the newfound relationship between Regimanuel Gray and the President and thus deny them of the accruing advantages. If she goes overboard, angry and sneering at Ghanaians, she has a point since the protection of one�s interests is a principal natural law. We agree there are other priority areas in the country such as roads, education, health and security but affordable housing, even when Regimanuel Gray label houses go for not less than $400,0000 per house, is also an issue. The integrity of our presidency is of utmost importance to us because the gentleman who holds that position is the face of the country. When his integrity is tainted by untruths, it will cast us the people of this country in bad light. It is Mrs. Botwe�s right to express her opinion about issues, as we too reserve same to interrogate the quality of such remarks and the integrity of tokens to the president or purchases of houses, as the case maybe.