Gov't to mount giant Nkrumah statue at Circle - Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday announced that government would this year mount an imposing statue of Ghana's first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah at the Kwame Nkrumah's Circle in Accra.

He said the statue, similar to the one erected at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, would serve as a lasting memory to the former President.

President Mahama announced this when members of the Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Planning Committee (KNCPC) called on him at the Flagstaff House, Kanda.

The members were at the seat of government to present a book containing proceedings of the centenary colloquium to the President.

Compiled by the members of the committee and published by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the book captures the papers delivered by the various heads of state and political leaders at the colloquium among other important events during the celebration.

President Mahama said the statue of Dr Nkrumah mounted at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa had given a further boost to the image of Nkrumah and Ghanaians as a whole and he felt happy and proud as a Ghanaian for the honour done to Ghana's first President when he attended the AU summit last month.

He said the erection of a similar statue at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle would further incise the memory of Nkrumah, which, the centenary had helped to "put Nkrumah in his proper perspective."

He said the decision by AU to join Ghana in the centenary celebration by erecting the statue had given an international dimension to who late President Nkrumah really was.

The President said he had presented the Amendment to the Holidays Act to Parliament to make Nkrumah's birthday a statutory one, which he said would avoid the frequent signing of Executive instruments to declare his birthday as a holiday.

President Mahama commended the Committee for the excellent and diligent manner it organized the centenary and for working far below budget indicating that the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Douglas Kwesi Bani, would be collaborating with the Committee to finish all the outstanding work.

Prof Akilakpa Sawyerr, Chairman of the Committee, noted that the centenary of Nkrumah was not Ghanaian but was seen as part of AU's celebration of one of its great leaders, while the creation of a website to provide information on Nkrumah was underway.