A 12 Year Old Writes to The President

Attn:
H.E. President John Attah Mills,
The Castle Osu, Accra.

A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT:
CAN WE HAVE A NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF MODERN GHANA HISTORY? A 12 year old pleads.

My name is Prince Ben Ofosu
–Appiah. I am 12 years of age and a sixth grader at the Morning Glory
Montessori Child Development Center, Teshie Nungua. I have a question that I would
like to ask;
WHY ARE THERE NO MUSEUMS IN GHANA?

When I was about 4 years old, my parents and I
visited the United States. We went to Maryland, Virginia, Boston Massachusetts,
New York and Washington DC area. We visited many national monuments, galleries,
museums, etc and learned a lot about American history.
Back home in Ghana, I realized we don’t have many national monuments, and apart
from the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum where I had the privilege of visiting in a
school excursion recently, there are no national museums of note in the
country. The National Cultural Center in Kumasi and the Arts Center in Accra are
the only exceptions. Why can’t we have a
National Musuem of Modern History of Ghana? My father said “a country that does
not preserve its past has no future”.

Where is the pen that Osagyefo
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah used to sign the declaration of independence? Where is the
original document of Ghana’s declaration of independence and a change of name
from The Gold Coast to Ghana? I recently watched the film of Nkrumah’s
declaration of independence on Youtube and after that I wanted to see in person
the smock Nkrumah wore and the white handkerchief he waved and I asked my
father where that is preserved. I
couldn’t find them in the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum, so where are they? Where is
the open car Nkrumah rode in after declaring Ghana our beloved country is free
forever? If we can’t preserve these very important aspects of our modern
history for our children and for future generations then as my father says we
may have no future.

My family and I drove around
Kotoka International Airport last week after a school event and I saw a Ghana
Airways DC 10 aircraft sitting in a bushy part of the airport covered with
dust, dirt and bush. Since my Mum used to work for Ghana Airways I asked why is
the airplane abandoned at the mercy of the weather? I know that Ghana has no
national airline anymore but why can’t we put this airplane in a museum and
kids can visit there as part of their school excursion so that they will know
that once upon a time Ghana had a national airline but we ran it down just like
we did to the Black Star Line and many other national assets. I believe there’s
educational value in preserving this aircraft in a museum than to let it rot
away in the sun and in the bush. When we visited the Washington DC area, one
place I loved most was the Smithsonian Institute and all the aeronautical
exhibits I saw there.

Another thing my father said is that we are very bad at
keeping records as a nation. I study ICT in school and I know it is more
efficient and easier to keep records in digital form rather than in paper form.
In the era of ICT, why do we still keep records in files and paper form? Many
countries have gone digital long time and all records are kept in a data base
which is well protected and easily accessible. Every now and then I see in the news
fire has gutted this office or that
office and has destroyed all records. A case in point is the fire that
destroyed the Lands Commission Office in Accra destroying records. These
records can be protected and preserved if they are kept in a central data base
that links all government departments and Ministries.

When I was 6 years old I spent
one year in Japan because my father is resided there. Japan is a child friendly
country. In my school, Montessori Child Development Center( MCDC), our
motto/our slogan is “MCDC : where children matter’. In Japan there are many parks
everywhere for
children to play equipped with the facilities for children and their parents to
have a fun and relaxing time. Children’s parks with amusement park facilities,
parks for picnics, parks for all kinds of sporting activities etc. When I
returned to Ghana a year later, I remembered realizing for the first time there
are no parks in Ghana and asking my parents why. If a tiny and overcrowded
country like Japan can set aside space to develop parks why can’t we do the
same in Ghana where land isn’t a big problem? DO CHILDREN REALLY MATTER IN
GHANA, Mr. President? Can we build Ghana into a country where children
matter? I think my father will say a
country that does not invest in its children has no future, and I agree.

Mr. President, I would like to
appeal to you to build a NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN GHANA HISTORY and also BUILD
MORE CHILDREN’s PARKS across the country to promote the healthy well being and
development
of children; places where children can run around and play freely since
childhood obesity is increasingly becoming a big problem in our society too.
I would be honoured to read from
you, sir.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,

Prince Ben Ofosu-Appiah (12
years)
Morning Glory Montessori Child
Development Center
Primary Department, Grade 6A
Teshie Nungua.
Accra – Ghana.