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Nkrumah Mausoleum is not a burial place for dead presidents
E. Ablorh-Odjidja
I must add that the above must also apply to the Presidential
Palace. So the planning committee's statement that, when
decided, “Ghanaians
should accept in good faith the final resting place for the late
President Mills,” does not indicate very much planning
on their part.
The lack of planning is evidenced by the sites they have
suggested.
For instance, why not suggest the Military Cemetery? It is the
only national cemetery we have. Like the Arlington National
Cemetery in Washington, DC, USA, a section can be made available
at this cemetery to accommodate honorably the body of President Mills and
other presidents to follow.
Memorials are different. They are built individually for heroes or leaders of
astounding merits. No other American hero is buried at the
Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson, or the Martin Luther King, Jr.
memorials for obvious reasons.
So, to insist on a burial of President Mills at either the
Nkrumah Mausoleum or the Presidential Palace must be an attempt
by this committee to plant something on us; a hidden motive or a sentiment that
must not be accepted in good faith by the Ghanaian.
This is not to suggest that the dead body of the late president
should not be honored. No Ghanaian should want to dishonor
the memory of his president. Still, the
offers by this committee show that it is not up to
the assignment given; finding a final resting place,
without kicking up rancor first, for our dead president.
There is every reason to honor former President Atta-Mills. He
was a president. That is about all this writer can say for him
in comparison with the late Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. President
Mills does not belong anywhere near the Nkrumah Mausoleum.
I will also add that the Mausoleum and the Presidential
Palace were not built to honor our dead presidents or
leaders. Otherwise, where are the others; starting with General Ankrah, through to Liman and
ending with some considerations for where to bury the rest to
follow?
The planning committee should start thinking of a place that
would make the memory of Mills durable, without providing the
opportunity for a mix up with Nkrumah’s memory or provide one
for a shift in glory to Mills, from the man who made the
construction of the Presidential Palace possible.
A section of the Military Cemetery is a worthy site for Mills
and all our dead presidents and those to follow, should
concerned families agree. Soon, we will come to know this
section as the final resting place for our presidents, with all
the honors, and not allow anyone not
belonging to this category to be buried there.
Former President Mills’ body will not rest in peace at the
Nkrumah Mausoleum. He would be hugely overshadowed by the
presence of the body of the great man.
As history informs us, the Nkrumah Mausoleum was planned as the
final resting place for Africa’s most illustrious leader of the
20th
century. The AU has recognized that fact and has accordingly
honored him.
What we in Ghana have done for Nkrumah so far is not much. The
mausoleum was built for us with a disproportionately huge help
from the Chinese. There is much to be said about maintenance of
the building and its surrounding grounds now.
But those in the Diaspora who visit the Mausoleum
would wish for no confusion of the site with any other president,
living or dead. That is why the Nkrumah Mausoleum is a
memorial.
I know we have a history of destroying monuments and embarking
spontaneously on policy reversals without thinking much about
what is best for the national interest or edification.
Hopefully, we would not embark on this mix-up.
Interestingly, there has never been any attempt to confuse the
memorial of Kotoka at the Accra International Airport. Why
not, with a stroke of the pen we could add some more names? The
idea for a twin memorial for Afrifa/Kotoka International should
do just fine.
The idea, however, has never been broached. Both major
parties, the NDC and the NPP, are very comfortable with the
memory of the coup of February 24, 1966, the treasonable act
that toppled Nkrumah and made Kotoka and Afrifa famous.
Note, however, that the suggestion to bury Mills at the Nkrumah
Mausoleum or the Presidential Palace will be shrouded in
silence, with the admonition that "Ghanaians should accept in
good faith" the result. The obvious point being that the
admonition has a parallel objective -
a planned mischief to degrade Nkrumah’s memory or shift the
glory embodied in the presidential complex to Mills.
It
must not be forgotten that Mills’ party, the NDC,
vehemently opposed the construction of the Presidential Palace.
It was the then sitting President Kufuor who had the complex
completed before Mills took office.
Though President Mills was in office for
more than three years, he chose the Osu Castle over the
Presidential Palace as residence. Wouldn’t it be insulting to
his memory if his body is buried in the place he
rejected?
Perhaps, we should now think of burying him at the Osu
Castle.
E. Ablorh-Odjidja,Publsiher
www.ghanadot.com,
Washington, DC, August 2, 2012
Permission to publish: Please feel free to publish or
reproduce, with credits, unedited. If posted at a website,
email a copy of the web page to
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