The single major Kwame Nkrumah project by Akufo-Addo that has warmed many hearts

If you never heard this, it is important to note that there have been claims – several ones in the past, that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government has been on a deliberate campaign to ensure that the memory and historical imprints of the country’s first president, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, is wiped out of the annals of the country.

Such critics have used arguments such as the cancellation of the national holiday of September 21, which was instituted to mark the birthday of Nkrumah, the withdrawal of the GH¢2 note that had the face of the former president on it, among others as their arguments.

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, for instance, expressed misgivings in 2019 about the decision of the government to scrap May 25 as a statutory holiday to mark Africa Union Day.

He argued that the move by the President Nana Akufo-Addo government was to diminish the legacies of Kwame Nkrumah.

"Under the direction of President Akufo-Addo, today the 25th of May which marks Africa Union Day or Africa Liberation Day as was reintroduced by President John Agyekum Kufuor as a public holiday in 2002 has now been degraded and therefore no longer a public holiday.

"How embarrassing that seven years down the lane, in his home country, Ghana - President Akufo-Addo continues to pursue an agenda of diminishing Africa's man of the millennium,” he said in a statement at the time he was still the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Also, there have been several instances where there have been conversations on who exactly is the ‘founder’ of Ghana, and whether or not Kwame Nkrumah alone should be credited with that accolade.

This is so especially because of the knowledge that there is an existing Big Six who led the country’s fight for independence from the colonial masters, the British.

But however factual, twisted or logical these critics have argued their points in this respect, it has not seemed to bother the government, or the president himself in any way, or so it appeared.

This is because, without so much noise about what he was doing when it eventually came to light, it has sought, to douse all the anger and feelings of disgust that people had at the government over their handling of Kwame Nkrumah legacies.

President Akufo-Addo re-opens refurbished GH¢30 million Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park

But on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned and handed over the renovated and modernised Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, a year after he cut the sod for the commencement of upgraded work on the place.

The Park, which was built in 1991 and opened to the public in 1992, during the time of the first president of the 4th republic, the late Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, had not seen any renovation since then, resulting in significant deterioration of the edifice.

Addressing the gathering at the ceremony, President Akufo-Addo noted that the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park has not only been renovated but it has also been completely modernised to befit the status of the final resting place of the man who led Ghana to independence in 1957.

“The Park now has facilities including a presidential library, receptive facility, mini-amphitheater, restaurant, freedom wall, and a digitalised payment and access system. The mausoleum has also been fully refurbished, with the tombstone upgraded, and the museum expanded with an audiovisual tunnel. There is also an upgraded VVIP lounge, expanded recreational area, a modernized gift shop, and a fountain area with synchronised audiovisuals, the first of its kind in West Africa.

“The thirty million cedi (GH¢30million) modernised Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park is in line with plans by Government to make the Park one of the best tourism and heritage attractions in West Africa. As the outstanding pan-Africanist of his generation, the burial site of Dr. Nkrumah must be appropriate to his status and exceptional contribution to the liberation of Africa from colonialism and imperialism,” the president said.

The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, which attracted some ninety thousand visitors annually before the renovation, is now expected to attract over one million tourists annually.

“We are host of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat; we have political stability and proven democratic credentials; and we have a rich and diverse culture. The Kotoka International Airport in Accra is the best airport in West Africa, with easy connectivity to many countries, whilst Ghana is the home of modern pan-Africanism and global African diasporan activities. Above all, we are a warm and hospitable people,” he added.

What Kwame Nkrumah’s family thinks about the renovated park:

After the ceremony to outdoored the renovated park, the daughter of Kwame Nkrumah, Samia Yaba Nkrumah, who is also a former Member of Parliament for Jomoro, said the family was satisfied with what they had seen.

She also explained that the Nana Akufo-Addo government had contacted them concerning the renovation works.

“So, the library was our idea because it's something we've been working on, trying to bring to realization for some years now, and we have not ended our discussions. We will have an input because a Pan-African leader of the stature and influence of Kwame Nkrumah must have a presidential library.

“So, this is just the start. It doesn't matter if it looks small or it's not, you know, what we would want it to be really, but it's a start and every small step in the right direction. I'm very happy and satisfied that we have reached this point,” she said in an interview.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo leaves office officially in January 2025, but this project is already high on the lips and minds of many Ghanaians as one of his most impressive, thoughtful ones, especially when it involves uplifting the image of the country’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

See some photos of the renovated Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park below:

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