In the interest of the children?

sculpture at Children's Park

“This monument is dedicated to the children of Ghana. May they grow to be useful citizens in the fear of the Lord” – these words boldly engraved in a marbled Ghana map, underneath a sculpture of a breastfeeding mother, summarizes the import of establishing the Children's Park in Kumasi.

But today the child sucking milk on the lap of the mother has many things going through the tiny brains… does anyone care about my welfare? When will my park ever be brought back to life?

In spite of its proximity to the irritating hoots from vehicular traffic on the main Tech-Adum highway, the Children's Park at Amakom is a serene greenly environment for social pleasure and leisure reading.

This 10.9 acre land was allotted for the multipurpose park in the late 1980s to serve the recreational needs of children in Kumasi and other parts of the Ashanti region.

But the investment, which includes a playground and a library, has been left to deteriorate over the past years, because soliciting public and government support to revive the centre has not been successful.

There have been several talks about private-public sector interest to revive the park, but surely this quest to support children's development has never become a major priority.

The only Children's Library in Kumasi has been left to deteriorate; the roofs are ripping off and the building is almost collapsing. Some other structures are serving the interest of religious groups and you wonder who might have been involved in renting these structures out???

Concerns have been raised about the state of the Children's Park itself, which has been described as deplorable, as it has largely become a den for criminals, an abode of reptiles and an atmosphere for suicide freaks.

Some youth groups in the Kumasi metropolis, including the Nocturnal Fraternity of Luv Fm and the Adehye Leo Club of the KNUST have in times past undertaken clean-up exercises to improve the sanitation situation. But the total neglect of facilities at the park has rendered such exercises useless.

The resuscitation of this dilapidated facility still hangs in limbo and there are reports private developers have expressed interest to run the Park as a business but the concern is would this not be to the detriment of the original intent of using the park to develop the physical and mental wellbeing of the Ghanaian child?

My beloved family, brethren in the church and in the mosque, colleagues at work, friends on the street, fellow members of the human race living in Ghana, please lend me your ears; I sit behind my computer, wondering how I can appeal to your conscience.

Just a moment ago, I was stuck in traffic close to the Children's Park at Amakom and so many things happened within a flash. Hawkers bombarded the windows of vehicles in traffic to offer for sale one product or another – imagine the hazard of having to confront over-speeding drivers, abuse of commuters and the harm to health from the unfair weather. Unfortunately, majority of these are children!

Indeed private investment can be engaged to redevelop the Kumasi Children's Park but the sustainable wellbeing of the child must never be slaughtered on the platter of a profit making venture!

Let the children grow and grow WELL to be good leaders of our society.

Credit: Kofi Adu Domfeh
E-mail: [email protected]