Professor Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor, Ex-Chairman of the Council of State has charged the Board of Ghana Museums and Monument (GMMB) to develop the museums into educational institutions to safeguard the Ghanaian cultural heritage.
He has, subsequently, asked the board to work in conjunction with the Regional Houses of Chiefs to establish regional offices with competent personnel, knowledgeable in archaeological issues.
The Professor further called on the board to immediately take steps to reclaim all museums’ lands taken by encroachers.
Professor Awoonor made the call at a public lecture, as part of GMMB’s activities marking this year’s International Museums Day, anchored by the theme: “Museums (memory + creativity) = social change.”
The Professor noted that a nation without viable and ample museum meant that, that nation misses one of the most valuable educational tools it needs to bring up its children.
Professor Awoonor observed that museums were classrooms that people received deep and abiding lessons on artificial aids to reconstruct their past, adding that, museums were also expected to serve as the repository of physical remnants of all human civilization that gives expression to man’s ability to rise above the pursuit of economic survival needs.
“When our children leave the classrooms, where else will they go for that illumination and knowledge which only museums and art galleries bestow,” he added.
He told the Board to spearhead major development projects beyond physical expansion schemes that were still locked up in books to reclaim all lands and open up regional offices.
Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts said government attached great importance to museums in national development and expressed support to the board to carry out its mandate.
She said the ministry would create synergies with tourist areas and embark on outreach programmes to ensure museums were developed to contribute greatly to national productivity.
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