When newspaper reports carried the story on the purchase of the hotel complex overlooking the President痴 house at the HIPC junction by the President痴 son, Mr. John Addo Kufuor, implying wrong doing, I thought it was the usual mischief by murk- raking journalists.

A few days later a bloke calling himself Charlie Sam and PRO to Kufuor Jr tried to explain what happened. First, he said it was the State Security which insisted that the building was too close to President痴 house for comfort called for the hotel to be bought for use by the President痴 household, a suggestion the President rejected for financial reasons.

He added that it was then suggested that since the President痴 ethnic group inherits patrilineally, and Chief Kufuor was the eldest son and will eventually inherit his father・house, it was prudent if he purchased the hotel complex. He added that this was coming from the President. That when the offer was put before Jr Kufuor by the father, it caught on well went him. So he put a consortium of financiers together, with himself as a shareholder and purchased the building.

Now the National Security has distanced itself from the story, adding that the presence of the hotel has never posed a problem, security or otherwise. The spin doctors have also modified the claim to say that the President knew nothing about the deal and that it was purely a business transaction btw the President痴 son and the former hotel owner. Which is which?

I have no urge to delve into the substantive matter. What worries me is the poor PR work exhibited here. Why should Charlie Sam, posing as a PRO for the President痴 son make pronouncements on issues involving the Presidency and make a mess of it? Will it not serve a better purpose if the Ministry of Information, or the Press Corps at the castle, who have the mandate, speak on behalf the President, instead of the hitherto unknown C. Sam?

By the way, when did Asantes change their inheritance system from that of matrilineal to patrilineal? Let the Hon. Minister of Information, Mr. Dan Botwe and Mr. Kwabena Agyapong sit up.