The newly renovated and refurbished Kwame Nkrumah Park is truly a sight to behold most especially after what it used to be; a sad and worn out edifice not worthy of a First President. But things have turned around and the memorial park is now thronging with hundreds of visitors from everywhere and at every age after the very recent renovations !

A little background on the refurbishment:

 The memorial park was closed for renovations about a year ago for improved commercial operations. This was finally completed and commissioned by H.E Nana Addo Akufo-Addo on July 4th. The park facelift was done at a cost of $3.5 million investment by the current government. The architect behind the design inspiration is Bethel K. Mamphey who aimed at bringing Dr. Kwame Nkrumah closer to the youth. This is telling in the youthful and colorful murals, and traditional symbols used around the park. 

It was a play date with a friend which took us to the park today. My friend had in the past visited the park and was truly impressed with the work done to make the space worthy of a first president.

The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park houses the remains of Ghana’s first President and his wife, Fathia Nkrumah within the mausoleum which was left untouched due to the timeless, everlasting marble material in it’s construction.

I am sharing our experience at the park this weekend as well as useful information you should know if you have marked it down as a must-visit .

Parking

I had earlier planned to Uber myself there but changed my mind as Uber might inflate prices to that location especially on weekends. If you are driving from the Independence Square, you’ll need to do a U-Turn at the traffic light at the Judicial Service as if you’re heading back to the Independence Square, the park is on your right after the bus stop. You might miss the entrance so don’t drive too fast. The parking is a bit tight considering the number of curious visitors especially on the weekends. Thankfully I got a good spot.

The entrance to the park was busy with Fan Milk vendors, artifact sellers and food vendors. A bit chaotic.

Ticketing

Once we entered, we were taken a bit aback by the queue snaking out of the building . We joined the queue in the sun and it took about 30minutes before entering the much cooler building. Three ticket counters but one issuing one which seemed pretty weird to me. It was finally our turn and we realized we had to let the ticketing man know which level our kids were at. Ticketing is arranged as follows:

I was actually miffed when the ticketing man said we should stand aside and sort ourselves out for others to buy their tickets. “ No! We wont do that!” I retorted back. If this information was made known to us whilst in the queue then we wouldn’t have to now reorganize ourselves. This should be worked on by the Tourism Authority asap. Also based on the above notice, how will the officers know who's Ghanaian and who's a foreigner? We got asked if we were Ghanaian and once we said yes that was it! We should perhaps be asked of our Ghana card. I've heard foreigners speak Twi fluently without the hint of an accent 🤣.

We paid and got to the main entrance which requires a receipt ticketing verification by another officer and once that’s done, your ticket card is scanned for you to enter the park. The receipt verification stand should have been closer to the ticket counter to avoid any chaotic and confusing situation in my opinion.  

Sights at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park

 The lawns looked well manicured with groves of trees providing beautiful shade for visitors to the park. We went through the mausoleum where the first president and his wife Fathia Nkrumah have been laid to rest. After paying our respects and taking several photos of the iconic ‘Forward ever, backward never’ statue, we entered personal journey museum  of Nkrumah which houses his childhood experiences, photos of his career and political journey, gifts given to him by former Presidents and family as well as furniture from his schooling days at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. That trunk though! Wow! It was truly remarkable being so up close and personal with some of the photos especially that of his mother Nyaniba weeping at his funeral. No parent should bury their child. That was such a heartbreaking photo and living in Nyaniba Estates myself it felt more personal. Her grief captured in a seconds shot. This outer walls of the museum had such gorgeous white reliefs of ancient gold coasters going about their everyday life. This museum has a sign for No Photography or Video but guess what Ghanaians were doing inside? No prizes for guessing. Although there was no tour guide, each experience and display had a description beside it making it self-explanatory. The architecture of the building reminded me of one of those white washed santorini houses.  

The headless statue of our late president stood at the exit of the tunnel of memories & quotes. It was such a stark reflection of how the same crowd that hails you as savior today can riot against you the next. I am sure Jesus can relate papa!

The audio-visual tunnel (no photo/video in this tunnel) was a delight to walk through. Quotes from Dr Nkrumah were emblazoned in white text on the black wall and it struck me how much of what he said many years ago still applies to us today. I guess nothing has changed since then. The photos of factories and projects he commissioned was a stark reminder of how self-reliant we used to be as a country. Today, we can’t make that boast. His voice rang out throughout the tunnel as you walk through it, “ At long last, Ghana my beloved country is free forever!” I harrumphed and walked away🫠.

The mural / photo wall display is a colorful touch to the park for visitors to take their best selfies and also for the kids to run around a bit. Park benches were beneath several trees for the tired visitor.

Food & Drink

The main restaurant at the park wasn’t yet functional. A snack bar was at a picnic table area for snacking and lunching with the family. This was interesting and fun to the children who just wanted to play in the sand. Several persons had left empty bottles and leftover popcorn kernels on the tables which we had to clear for our hungry troupe. The snack bar was out of cold drinks so we settled for warm Malt drinks to quell our growing hunger. I highly recommend you carry along a fine selection of snacks for your kids if you are planning a family trip to the park.

Gift Shop

This wasn’t open for viewing as at this posting.

Library

The Library wasn’t available to the public as at this posting. 

Bathrooms

Thankfully, these were clean and hygienic.  However, visitors have to walk all the way to the Reception to use the bathroom! That’s a long walk for a child who seriously has to go! More toilets less stressed Moms!

All in all, this was a great and fun experience especially for the children who got to learn lots about our first president. It was heartwarming seeing people of all ages strolling through the pathways and museums. The aged looked delighted and i couldnt help but wonder how they feel as they were live witnesses to the former late president’s accomplishments.

There’s quite a few things to put into place at the Memorial park to make the experience truly magical: there needs to be more ticketing officers at the reception area to speed up the ticketing process, constant maintenance of the entire park and child-friendly knowledge spaces for children between 2 and 10 years. Security wasn’t very visible at most areas we visited and I think that needs to be resolved in the event of any security incidents. Ticketing prices should be pasted at the main entrance for new visitors and maintenance crew should be posted at some points to remind visitors not to litter or point them in the direction of waste bins. Several people had eaten and drank soda on some tables without cleaning after themselves. That’s just crazy. We really need to have a preservation mindset when it comes to our national assets.

Opening and closing times is 8am to 9pm throughout the week. I highly recommend a weekday visit if it’s just you or a weekend after 5pm if you want to avoid the crowds and queuing.

It’s in the interest of this country for this revamped tourist center to be maintained at the highest standard. As Ghanaians, please avoid touching the displays or desecrating any part of the center, it’s the only one we got! May we all have the preservation mindset for generations to glean off the same knowledge and experience.

Follow the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park on Instagram!