A vivid example of poor maintenance and of leaving national assets to go to rot stared right in my face when I recently visited the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, situated right in the heart of Accra.
The last time I visited the impressive edifice was some 12 years ago. Since then, even though I drive past almost every week, I never took notice of what was going on there until I visited recently. My shock at the deterioration as I saw it was beyond description.
I hosted some guests over the Christmas and New Year holidays and two amongst them from South Africa (SA) were visiting Ghana for the first time. As proud Africans with so much admiration for this country, they were dying to experience two key historical places before they left.
They wanted to visit the slave castles to see the remains of the inhumane slave trade that was perpetrated in West Africa centuries ago. Their next “must see” was the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, just to catch up with their history on that great son of Africa.
We managed it to the mausoleum on 31st December, 2016. When I first visited the place over a decade ago, it was bubbling with activity, the water fountains were running and the manicured lawns and budding flowers were all sights to behold. Not this time around.
I bowed my head down in shame as we parked our car at the allotted car park. I knew, even before we entered the facility that expectations were not going to be met. The mausoleum looked a shadow of its old self. It looked run down from outside.
The ticket stand at the entrance of the edifice and the approach of the ticket attendant gave everything away. It fell short of a professionally run tourist centre. Then also were the lawns and flower beds which immediately gave the indication of an orphaned facility.
One would have thought that for such a high profile mausoleum and for a holiday season like Christmas and New Year, every commitment would have been made to keep it at top notch. One would have expected that since lawns and flowers serve as natural attraction to any edifice, every effort would have been made to keep it as such.
But no. The lawns and flower beds and the trees as I witnessed that Saturday, must have been yearning for attention for months if not years. The dry weather notwithstanding, edifices of that nature must be given attention all year round. After all, they cost the tax payer to put them up so why do we watch on for them to deteriorate before we commit more of tax payer’s money to fix them? That draws my mind back to the lawns outside the Flagstaff House. By the way, who is in charge of the gardens in the Presidential House?
As for the discoloured water ponds at the mausoleum and the bad odour emanating from the ponds, the less talked about them, the better. The grounds are miserable sight not fit for a tourist site in this capital city of ours.
The adjacent museum was just as disappointing. Interesting household items, pictures, books and some items of clothing of the first President of Ghana, one of Africa’s most treasured leaders, have been brought together but that is about it. The story of his life, overthrow, exile and death is not well synchronised through these items and pictures.
And so as one moves from point A to point Z, the story being told was not properly pieced together.
The computer generated descriptions to some of the items on display at the mausoleum are faded, with some peeling off. Obviously such presentation should not be allowed in a premium tourist attraction. It would not take much for someone to continuously audit and put the place in proper shape. Thus includes rearrangement of pictures and other items to enable visitors follow the story being communicated.
In terms of location, the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum is strategically located to be a prime tourist attraction, something the nation can capitalise on and present as a packaged attraction for tourists. The mausoleum is right next door to the popular Arts Centre, the main arts and crafts market in Accra, another key tourist attraction. It sits facing the imposing law courts and Ghana’s first Parliament building. Located on the High Street, alongside some historic sites including the Ussher Fort and James Fort Prisons, the Light House, a fishing beach, the palace of the James Town Mantse, we can easily build a budding tourist centre around the High Street.
The location of the mausoleum is not too far from the Black Star Square, the beautiful venue for celebrated events. The spot is within a walking distance from the Accra Sports Stadium, the burial grounds of the late President, Professor John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills. It is also close to the Christianborg Castle which until recently was the seat of government, the 28th February Crossroads and the tombs of some falling heroes whose history enrich the country’s early struggles with colonial rule.
Obviously therefore, we stand a good chance of packaging and making the High Street in Accra a tourism hub with the mausoleum and all the other exciting places around the area properly developed and so linked. The good thing is that they are all within walking distances. If we decide to go that way, we would then need to have decent places of convenience, eateries and parks to attract patronage from both local and foreign tourists.
So, it is time to put a stop to our habit of neglecting national assets and leaving them to deteriorate. My passionate appeal to the in-coming Minister of Tourism and Creative Arts is to take the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and some of the key attractions in the area as part of her pet projects.
Within Accra, the capital city, we don’t have many tourist centres to boast of. So why should we not put efforts behind the few existing ones and support them to bring them up to first class tourist status? The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, for instance, should certainly not be allowed to be a forgotten legacy and fade to rot away. Let us commit to its revival as a prime national tourist attraction.
Ghana will remember our in-coming Tourism Minister and love her for it if she is able to revive the potential of the many tourism attractions our country is blessed with across the country. That certainly includes the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum at the heart of Accra.
