The President Nana Akufo Addo on Tuesday, re-opened the refurbished Gh¢30 Million Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra.

Addressing the gathering at the ceremony, the President noted that the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park has not only been renovated, but it has also been completely modernized to befit the status of the final resting place of the man who led us to independence in 1957, and became Ghana’s first President.

“The Park now has facilities including a presidential library, receptive facility, mini-amphitheater, restaurant, freedom wall, and a digitalized 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 synchronized audiovisuals, the first of its kind in West Africa,” he said.

The President continued, “The thirty million cedi (GH¢30million) modernized 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 Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, which attracted some ninety thousand visitors annually before the renovation, is now expected to attract over one million tourists annually.

To this end, the President charged the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and its agencies to devise effective marketing and promotional strategies to achieve the target of one million domestic and international tourists’ visitations to the Park.

As part of measures to make Ghana the hub of tourism in West Africa, the President indicated that Government is building museums and other tourist attractions in various parts of the country.

“The construction of a Museum and Heroes Park for the “Big Six”, a Memorial Park in Cape Coast for the Aborigines, a Memorial Enclave in Tamale for the founders of the erstwhile Northern People’s Party to symbolise their participation in the drive for national independence, and the completion of ongoing works at the Bonwire Museum and the Yaa Asantewaa Museum both in Ejisu, are in the offing. You will recall also that the National Museum had to be closed down for seven years from 2015 to 2022 due to lack of maintenance. It was in my time, in 2022, that the renovation of the museum was completed,” he added.

The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park was dedicated in 1992 during the tenure of the late 1st President of the 4th Republic, His Excellency the late Jerry John Rawlings and is situated on the site of the former British colonial polo grounds in Accra. It is five acres in size. The mausoleum, designed by Don Arthur, houses the bodies of Kwame Nkrumah and his wife Fathia Nkrumah.

It is the spot where Nkrumah made the declaration of Ghana’s independence. On the premises is a museum that has on display objects from various stages of his life.