Renovation of Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park aims to position position tourism as the leading contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Deputy Minister, Mark Okraku-Mantey.
“I think that we should thank President Akufo-Addo for his vision. He said that he wants to make tourism the number one contributor to GDP in Ghana. So, if we want to achieve that, then we have to get our assets right and the numbers right,” he added.
The Deputy Minister Mark Okraku-Mantey made this statement on Wednesday during an interview.
“2019 was a good year because of the Year of Return, but towards the end, we had issues because of COVID-19, so we went down, not just Ghana but throughout the world. But we are bouncing back. As of now, we have met our target for the first quarter, exceeded the second quarter, and we know that by the end of 2023, we will do far better than the previous years because our third and fourth quarters are our peak times in terms of December in Ghana and all of that.”
“And so, we know that we need to get some of these assets right, such as heritage sites and roads. We have fixed the Kakum National Park.”
Mr. Okraku-Mantey emphasized the agenda to highlight that, beyond cocoa and oil, tourism could be leveraged to propel the country’s progress.
“I would not be surprised if, in the next few months, Kwame Nkrumah Park takes over from Aburi Botanical Garden. You can see that 24 hours after its commissioning, there is a new energy, a new vibe. We were number one on Twitter trends yesterday,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo inaugurated the refurbished Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra on Tuesday. The President stated that the revamped Memorial Park is expected to draw approximately one million domestic and international tourists each year.
During the unveiling of the revitalized memorial park, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressed the government’s commitment to further investing in the tourism sector to stimulate economic recovery.
In the meantime, the family of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah expressed their gratitude to the government for the redevelopment of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park.
The government allocated $3.5 million for the park’s renovation, which now serves as the final resting place for Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and his wife, Fathia Nkrumah.
Samia Nkrumah, the daughter of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, acknowledged that the government, under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, consulted the family prior to the redevelopment, an aspect she highlighted during the park’s commissioning.