Jubilee House: Ghana’s Iconic Presidential Palace

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 Presidential palace is one of the most beautiful and artistic edifices built in a form of an Asante (Akan) stool which signifies the seat of power and leadership.?

The Jubilee House was built on the site of a building, which was constructed and used for administrative purposes by the British Gold Coast Government.?

The previous seat of government of Ghana was Osu Castle built by the Danes around 1659 and originally called Christiansborg Castle.?

It was the seat of government until 2013 when the president and his office moved to Flagstaff House.

The structure was maintained by the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, as his office and residence and later became famous for a private zoo that was established by him.

Nkrumah’s narrow escape from the gunshot of one of the policemen posted to guard the Flagstaff House, by name Corporal Ametewee, in the early 1960s also attracted worldwide attention.

Again, Nkrumah miraculously escaped death when a grenade exploded at the Flagstaff House in 1964, when he was hosting functionaries of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) at a dinner.

In November 2008 Flagstaff House was reconstructed and inaugurated by the government of John Agyekum Kufour with a new name, Golden Jubilee House when construction was about 70%–80% completed.

But the name was changed back to its original name (Flagstaff House) by the government of President John Atta Mills claiming that the previous government had not used a Legislative Instrument to effect the change as required by law.

In March 2018, the presidential residence saw another reverse of its name back to Golden Jubilee House by President Akufo-Addo.

Heads of state such as Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Mrs. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta, and her spouse, Edgar Preca, and Mr. George M. Weah, President of Liberia among others visited the Flagstaff house.?

The Jubilee house has recently been in the news after American rapper Meek Mill uploaded a teaser of his upcoming music video on social media, which features footage of him in several areas at the presidential residence.?

In the brief video, Meek Mill is seen rapping within the presidency (Jubilee House), including the frontage, main corridors, the main conference hall, and at one point behind the presidential pulpit.

Meek Mill was in Ghana in December to perform at the just-ended Afro-Nation concert over the Christmas holidays.

However, some Ghanaians have been sharing their displeasure and concerns on social media as they are unhappy with the location of his video shoot.

The musician has reportedly withdrawn the controversial video and has issued an apology via Twitter.