Chief advocates befitting monument to Nkrumah

Awutu-Mankessim (C/R), Dec. 23, GNA - Nai Kwao Otuo V, member of the Awutu Traditional Council and Chief of Awutu-Mankessim, has appealed to the government to erect a statue of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president, at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, as part of the preparations towards Ghana's 50th anniversary celebrations next year. Nai Otuo, a member of the constituent assembly, which drew the country's 1992 Constitution, said it would be most ideal if government would construct a befitting statue of the man who led Ghana's battle for self-governance alongside other patriots, at the spot named after him in the capital.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on preparations towards the country golden jubilee early next year, he said although the remains of the late president were being kept in a mausoleum in Accra, the statue would give visitors to the celebrations and Ghanaians alike the rare opportunity to view at close range the effigy of the man "who is so adored by many Ghanaians, Africans and the entire black race". Nai Otuo said besides adding beauty to the city, the monument would give true meaning to patriotism and further urge the youth on to "die for Ghana".
Nai Otuo commended the government for erecting a statue of Dr J B Danquah at the Danquah Circle in Accra and said; "A similar thing can be done for Dr Nkrumah without attaching any political meaning to it." He appealed to traditional councils to impress upon all divisional and sub-chiefs in the urban and rural communities to mobilize their subjects for intensive communal activities to tidy their towns and villages as their contributions towards ensuring total success of the golden jubilee.