Poor maintenance culture: Will Kwame Nkrumah memorial park be different?

It is common for a Ghanaian outside the country to be asked about people such as Abedi Pele, Asamoah Gyan and Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra, which first opened on July 1, 1992, lasted for only three decades. It attracted about 90,000 visitors annually.

The facility, which houses the remains of the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Fathia Nkrumah, having deteriorated and lost public attraction, was modernised and inaugurated on July 4, 2023, by President Akufo-Addo at a cost of $3.5m.

It has a statue of the former president, a mausoleum, a museum, gardens, a library, etc.

It is worrying, how, as a country, we take very good care of private properties, but not public ones.

The culture of maintenance of public properties needs to be seriously re-looked. During my visit to the year-old Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park (KNMP), I saw some sanitary ware in the wash area damaged.

The question then is – are the visitors careless or do the managers not pay attention to maintenance?

Who checks when guests use the place, especially on public holidays and weekends when many people including children pay visits. Are there officers dedicated to that?

If well-managed, it could attract a lot more visitors. It would also be an employment avenue for citizens and create many indirect jobs. I guess we would not sit unconcerned about this beautiful and expensive facility to rot in a few decades.

We need to, as a people, revisit our national anthem, pledge and patriotic songs. Truly, if Ghana would develop and the people prosper, it all depends on us.

Protect the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park! We have to!

Amoako-Sey Richard,
Child Worker/Etiquettes Coach,
Accra.
E-mail: amoakoseyrichard90@
gmail.com