Kumasi children’s park now 'den of wee smokers' – Sutherland-Addy

Professor Esi Sutherland-Addy, a daughter of the late renowned Ghanaian playwright Efua Sutherland, has bemoaned the sad state of recreational facilities for children in the country, indicating that the Kumasi Children’s Park now serves as a hub for marijuana smokers and other illegal activities.

She said the park had several facilities including “a library built by KNUST with bricks...It has become a den of wee smokers and stuff like that. I mean it is really sad”.

The former Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Culture and Tourism expressed worry when she appeared as a guest on Class 91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show.

She told the host, Benjamin Akakpo, on Monday, 29 April 2019, that the habit of not maintaining good initiatives started by people who have passed on, was sad.

The academician, writer, educationist and human rights activist also bemoaned the deplorable state of the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park named after her mother.

The park, located in the central part of the national capital, Accra is a recreational centre for children but has not seen any major renovation or upgrade for years.

Though government-owned, it has become a pale shadow of its former glory.

“The Efua Sutherland Children’s Park has been an endangered place for many years,” she lamented.

She noted that the park “is in limbo although there are plans to develop it”.

“So, it is not a happy story but one is hoping that this time the plans that have been made will be implemented,” she stressed.