COCOBOD has provided further particulars backing its claim that a guest house constructed under the erstwhile Mahama government was a wasteful use of public funds.

The explanation comes after the former President's spokesperson Joyce Bawa Mogtari claimed the building was constructed in 1975. The President would have been 17 years old at the time.

But in a reaction, the Special Assistant to the Cocobod CEO, Fiifi Boafo prefaced his explanation by stating, "I don’t want to say it’s a lie because it involves a former President".

He said the construction of the building began in January 2016 and was completed in six months.

It is a one-storey building, has a five-bedroom Executive suite complete with a bar, dining area, kitchen and a kitchen yard, a pantry with two driver's quarters.

"The floor is furnished with porcelain tiles, not ceramics. It is porcelain", Fiifi Boafo told Joy News Thursday.

"This is not an ordinary building we are talking about", he said and revealed the cost as 7.7 million cedis and not 5.2 million cedis as suggested by Bawa Mogtari.

The Special Aide explained this new building stands on the same premises as the 1975 building referred to by the former President's Spokesperson.

COCOBOD has claimed the construction of the guest house in Bole, the former President's hometown, was done to "enable him enjoy comfortable holidays during visits to his constituency.”

It is a claim, the former President's spokesperson has dismissed. She said the former president would be more comfortable in his own house at Bole than live away from his family in his own hometown.

She said the former president never influenced the award of the contract or any other while he was president.

Meanwhile, Joy News' Upper West Regional Correspondent, Rafiq Salaam who visited Bole reported that the two are separate buildings; one constructed in the seventies and was refurbished recently as well as the one-storey structure which was built last year. 

He said the roads leading to the enclave have all been paved and the property fenced.