Private Developers Encroach Land Earmarked For Redevelopment Of Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Library

Residents of Kulungungu in Pusiga District of the Upper East Region are lamenting over the encroachment of land on which the first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah was nearly killed with a bomb.

A visit by the ModernGhana News team reveals that private developers have taken over almost half of the 5-acre land allocated for the redevelopment of Kwame Nkrumah's statue.

According to the Adamu Dugumse Dubiyale, an African personality said, the land was provided by the chiefs and people of the area to build an ultra-modern library and day nursery for kindergarten pupils but private developers have taken over the land due to government inability to develop it.

Mr Adamu Dugumse narrates that, on August 1, 1962, the President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah stopped at Kulungugu, in the then Bawku District on his way back from an official meeting with President Maurice Yameogo of the Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) at Tenkudugo. The visit was to discuss and further plans to eliminate customs barriers between the two countries, a small step in the larger Pan-African unity scheme.

Mr Adamu Dubiyale further added that, when Dr Kwame Nkrumah stopped over at Kulungungu, there was a durbar and so, he went and exchanged greetings with the chiefs and a flower was presented to him but he didn't touch the flower and he (Amadu) thinks the noise that emanated from the flower he (Nkrumah) must have also heard it.

According to him, Nkrumah immediately after turning back the bomb exploded and hit his back. Many people lost their lives, others injured in the process and about three people are still alive.

He said after the incident, an appealed for funds were made and the CDR's couldn't disburse which delayed the redevelopment of the statue of Dr Kwame Nkrumah from that time.

He however called on government to make good use of the land by building the memorial library in honour of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Assembly man for Kulungungu, Faoruk Wusupho, said the redevelopment of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah statue as tourist centre will generate income for the government as well as provide jobs for youth in the area.

He however called on government to as a matter urgency develop the land or risk losing it to private developers.

Speaking on behalf of the youth, Pouri Abdul-Farouk Braimah, appealed to government and other developmental partners to engage the youth in the area by redeveloping the statue of the former president Kwame Nkrumah.

He added that the redevelopment of the statue of Dr Kwame Nkrumah will bring people from all over the world to visit the bombing place of the first President.

The site, which has great tourism potentials and could rake in great fortunes for the people of the Region, is neglected without any proper attention from the Ministry of Tourism.

A visit by ModernGhana News teams to the site revealed that the statue of the first President was faceless, with visible cracks on it begging to collapse.