Obama’s Visit Transforms Ogua

ALTHOUGH THERE WERE MANY reports in the media about the deplorable state of some ancients buildings in the Cape Coast Metropolis which included the Cape Coast Court, the Ministries’ Block, the Ghana Commercial Bank building, among others, nobody made any attempt to have them renovated until recently, when it was announced that the President of United State of America (USA), Barrack Obama, was preparing to visit the historic town.

The visit of President Obama has totally changed the face of Cape Coast and this has compelled residents to hail Obama’s visit to the former colonial capital.

This is evident by the fact that many residents talk about the historic visit on a daily basis as the city takes a new shape.

Obama’s historic visit has also provided temporary jobs for the youth and some elderly folks who are seen busily working on the various buildings in the metropolis.

DAILY GUIDE, in its bid to monitor the unfolding events, on Monday observed that the Cape Coast Palace which is to host President Obama, has taken a new shape as workers work day and night.

The current state of the palace can be described as an elegant.

One unfolding event that has surprised residents is the beautification of the Cape Coast Complex Court which was left in terrible state for many years.

The court complex is not an ordinary court but a type which was purposely constructed to mark the centenary of the court system in Ghana.

Therefore, it has a historic background to the delivery of justice in the country. It was constructed by the State Construction Company (SCC) during the era of Colonel (rtd) Frank George Bernasco, who is currently domiciled abroad.

The court was in such a bad state that nobody in the area believed that it would gain its beauty like it has now.

The deplorable state of the court compelled the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Woode, to come down to the area to promise the people a new court building at Third Ridge last year.

Another ‘Obama visit magic’ is the renovation of the Ministries which was also constructed by Colonel (rtd) Bernasco and was left to rot.

The building has been given a facelift and residents are wondering why government properties could be left in such an appalling state when they could have been maintained.

“If politicians have the capacity to renovate all these buildings, why did they wait for all this time before renovating them?” they asked.

Although some of the buildings are being renovated, there are two other buildings which must be considered for renovation since it can also serve as a source of revenue for the people in the area.

They are John Mensah Sarbah’s building at Idun which collapsed about three years ago, and the old Post Office building which is directly opposite the renovated Cape Coast Palace.

A lot of politicians, the Chairman of the National Commission on Culture, Prof. Hagan, and the School of Law at the University of Ghana, Legon, promised to rehabilitate the Mensah Sarbah building to serve as a tourist site in the area, but none of them has been able to fulfill those promises.