Take the second left then stay straight. It's the first stool on the right. You can't miss it.

The new Presidential Palace (pictured above) was commissioned on Monday. They’re still putting on the finishing touches, but according to an interview with the Minister of Information I heard on Joy FM that morning, the President plans to occupy it before the end of his term in office – so within the next two months. This is an election year, and the opposition party has been particularly critical of the structure’s cost. Again according to that same interview, the palace was originally expected to cost $30 million. The Minister of Information didn’t know the final cost, much to the chagrin of the opposition member on the other line.

The current home of government is certainly historic, though not reflecting the chapters in Ghana’s history with which any current leader would wish to associate himself or his administration. The government currently operates out of Christiansbourg (or Osu) Castle, a slave fort constructed by the Danish in the 1660s. After passing through various colonial and indigenous hands (one chief apparently still has the keys to the fort which his people used to control), it was purchased by the British in 1850, six years after the treaty which established their colonial dominion along the coast. In 1948, colonial police fired on demonstrators outside the castle, energizing the nationalist movement that swept Nkrumah into power 3 years later as Head of Government. In 1957, Ghana became the first nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to win its independence.

But why is President Kufuor moving into a giant “H”? The architecture evokes the Akan stool, symbol of chiefly power. In the 17th Century, the Golden Stool fell from the heavens into the heart of Ashanti (The Ashanti are the most populous branch of the Akan ethnic group. Ashanti was a British corruption of Asante. I’ve heard some people here use Ashanti to refer to the territory centered around Kumasi occupied by the Asante.) Upon the occasion of the Golden Stool’s descent, the priest of King Osei Tutu, the Asantahene (ruler of the Asante) at the time, issued laws for the Asante confederation. To this day, Akan chiefs occupy stools, but they do not own them. If the chief’s behavior is found un-chiefly, he can be de-stooled. Interestingly enough, stools are also used in Asante girls’ nubility (initiation) rites.

The new presidential palace taps into a rich history of political and architectural symbolism in Ghana. To take just one instance, President Nkrumah was enstooled as a chief at Nsaeum in 1962. Also consider that chiefly authority is not a relic of “traditional” times. 80% of land in Ghana is held under customary tenure; chiefs hold allodial title, which means that they decide who gets access to the land and its product (usufruct).

As a concluding note, one of my hostel co-habitants was impressed but also a bit disappointed when I told him that the striking building between campus and downtown was the new presidential palace. He thought that maybe it was going to be a night club.