The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, 7th April
2021, cut the sod for the construction of the five million cedi (GH¢5 million) Ghana Award
House, a new administrative building for the Head of State Award Scheme.
Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony, President Akufo-Addo explained that since its
inception in 1967, the Head of State Award Scheme has challenged and touched the lives of
many young Ghanaians, with some 750,000 young people participating and benefitting from
the Scheme.
“I have always been excited about the work being done by the Award Scheme, and that is
why I continue to urge them to ensure that as many young Ghanaians as possible benefit
from it. To achieve this ambitious target, a befitting administrative office for the Scheme will
be required. The provision of a Ghana Award House, to serve this purpose, is my
commitment towards driving the agenda of the Award Scheme,” the President said.
Once completed, the Ghana Award House project will be a two-storey office block, with a
two hundred (200) capacity conference room, and training facility designed to house the
National Secretariat of the Head of State Award Scheme.
It will be constructed at a cost of five million cedis (GH¢5 million), and it will help drive
growth, impact, and the effective and efficient delivery of the Award Scheme to all young
people in Ghana and beyond.
The President noted that the “completion of the Ghana Award House project will put Ghana
ahead of many of the countries running the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award”, and
will mean that Ghana “will be the second country in Africa, after the Presidents’ Award of
Kenya, and one of the few countries globally, to have its own administrative office.”
He also announced that, in support of the operation of the Award Secretariat, its operational
cost will be borne by the Office of the President, under the direct supervision of the Chief of
Staff.
“Vehicles are also to be allocated to the Secretariat for its use. In addition to the one-
million-cedi contribution to this project, Government pledges to do what it can to ensure
that the project is completed in the next thirty-six (36) weeks,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo called on individuals, corporate bodies, especially in the construction
industry, to join hands and bring this project to fruition, explaining that they can donate
bags of cement, blocks and other building materials in support of this project.
“Together, we can help make this project a reality. I thank all who have contributed
consistently towards the success of the Award Scheme. Now is not the time to rest on our
oars, but to help realise the vision of an Award Scheme that is truly self-sustaining,” the
President added.