The tale of the multi-billion cedi Rawlings mansion at East Legon has taken a new turn with revelations to the effect that former First Lady: Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has purchased arty-crafty decorative materials worth $17,000 (136 million cedis) for the new house.
Undercover investigations by The Independent over the last few weeks have yielded information that Nana Konadu walked up to Hotel Shangri La, close to the Accra International Airport and the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout to purchase the items in August this year. The purchase of the items at Hotel Shangri La betrays yet another acquired taste of the Rawlingses who recently threw a lavish society 25th wedding anniversary bash at Accra’s M-Plaza Hotel. The items, which include an expensive hand woven Persian carpet woven in three different colours, flower vases made of pure stone, ornamental tables and other d?cor were purchased from a Pakistani national who mounted a Fair at the Hotel.
Our sorties have revealed that the Pakistani exhibitor booked with the Ghana Trade Fair Authority (GTFA) to exhibit his goods at the just ended Grand Sales Fair that took place at the Trade Fair Site in Accra from July 26-August 11, 2002. However, as a result of communication and flight problems, he arrived in the country three days to the end of the Fair. Among the items he brought in for sale were top of the range, exquisitely carved flower vases made of pure stone, hand woven carpets, ornamental tables and related furniture and other d?cor fit for royalty and other arabesque decorative pieces.
With such a situation on hand, the Pakistani exhibitor who could not make enough sales because of his late arrival in town for the Grand Sales Fair, moved to Hotel Shangri La where he quickly secured the Hotel’s Conference Room to exhibit his goods. According to our scouts, the Pakistani exhibitor was even compelled to reduce his goods to clear, such that a pure stone vase, which stood at about 4 feet high that was originally for sale at $1,000 was sold for $500. Nana Konadu is reported to have bought several items including the giant pure polished stone vases in different modes and colours in line with her acquired taste.
Nana Konadu, according to The Independent investigations walked to Hotel Shangri La on Wednesday, August 14 to window shop at the Pakistani’s fair where she fell in love with the many items on display. She made her selection of the first class arabesque d?cor with thoughts of the East Legon mansion on her mind. Forever, the chic and sassy lady who used to fix flowers in her hair when she was growing up as she told an interviewer on an Accra Fm station a few years back, she returned to Hotel Shangri La on Thursday, August 15 in the company of four female companions an forked out a cool $16,850 to take possession of the goods.
Eye witnesses to the transactions say the items, some of which, particularly, the flower vases were so heavy that it took three full grown adult males to ferry them to a waiting vehicle for delivery at the “boom Junction’ residence of the Rawlingses at Ridge, in Accra. A visitor to the hotel who was around when Nana Konadu concluded the $16,850 deal expressed surprise when he told our investigator: “These are people who say they do not operate foreign accounts. If they had foreign accounts, it would have been a different thing all together. May be, they keep the dollars in their house.”
