A Presidential lodge of Ghana’s first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on top of the Karimenga Mountain in West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region has been left to deteriorate.
The self-contained building according to historians, served as a hideout for the former President each time the country was in turmoil but after his overthrow on February 24 1966, successive governments have failed to pay attention to the relic to attract tourists.
The structure itself is a two-bedroom facility with other ancillary facilities and detached offices located about three minutes drive from Karimenga, a small farming community which serves as a boundary between the Northern and Upper East Regions.
Built with hard blocks and roofed with galvanized iron roofing sheets, the building still appears strong with scruffy walls; warn out ceilings and broken Water Closets.
Mr. Offei-Akoto Ayeh a journalist with Bolgtantaga-based A1 Radio who led his colleagues to visit the structures, reports that they discovered a water reservoir and a detached structure which according to a resident Godwin Wuni, were constructed by the first President of Ghana to provide residents with potable water and the offices used by the first Quarry in the region, Kasadjan Quarry.
He also indicates that the structure which has not been put to good use for several decades, is at the mercy of the bad weather and now being occupied by lunatics who have adopted it as their new home.
“Surrounded by weeds, some portion of the building now serves as the hideout for smokers who smoke and defecate in the edifice”, he explained.
Godwin Wuni disclosed that although officials of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) visited the area and promised to renovate the lodge in 2014, nothing has since been done after the visit.
He observed that renovating the structure will not only provide some residents of Kariminga employment through tourism related activities, but will also boom the rural economy of the area and better the lives of the people.
He called on all stakeholders in the tourism industry to come on board to renovate the historical edifice to help open up the Karimenga community to other developmental opportunities as seen in other areas in the country.
Source: Ultimate fm
