A Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Koku Anyidoho, has commended the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the speedy response in working on the Atta Mills’ tomb at the Asomdwe Park in Accra.
Mr Anyidoho, who is also the Head of the Atta Mills Institute, a think tank, explained that the speedy response of the government when the deteriorating tomb became a public issue has “saved the nation from a national disgrace.”
“The efforts by the government to fix the park is pleasing and I appreciate what it has done,” he told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
Corporate entities
According to Mr Anyidoho, the institute was ready to collaborate with government, individuals and corporate entities to help complete the structures at the park including a library, a cafeteria and an audio-visual room, which would assist in understanding late President Atta Mills’s story.
He explained that since governance was a continuous process, he expected successive governments to complete the Asomdwe Park project which the NDC started.
He expressed the hope that since it was about state assets and not about an individual or personality, successive governments would continue to maintain the place, as well as help facilitate its completion.
Statesmanship
Mr Anyidoho stated that he was impressed with what he saw when he visited the tomb last week and noted that the Asomdwe Park would help preach the ideals the late President Mills stood for in the areas of academia, sports, politics, religion, family life and statesmanship.
“The situation was not as horrible and hopeless as the media painted it. I saw workers on site correcting the defects and there was so much improvement on the tomb,” he added.
He said he also noticed that the lawns were being manicured and the park was fairly neat.
Mr Anyidoho said the workers were busy working hard to make the Asomdwe Park ready for the March 6 celebrations.
He indicated that on March 6, some Ghanaians, as well as visitors from abroad, would like to go to the park to learn more about the life and works of the late President.
Mr Anyidoho, therefore, gave credit to the government for its effort to fix the park, saying what he saw at the park last week was satisfactory.
Works on Atta Mills tomb
The Daily Graphic, on a visit to Prof. Mills’s tomb, saw that government had commenced repair works on the tomb at the Asomdwe Park in Accra.
Workers were seen busily putting the tomb back in proper shape last Tuesday after news of its deterioration broke out.
The tomb of the third President of the Fourth Republic had developed cracks and was being supported with pieces of cement blocks to keep it from falling apart.
Commenting on the state of the late President’s tomb on Kasapa FM, the former Communications Director at the Presidency under the Atta Mills’ government, Mr Koku Anyidoho, said it was regrettable to see Mills’ tomb deteriorate without the NDC government making any efforts to preserve it.
Anyidoho said one could not blame the current administration for the deplorable state of the late President’s tomb, insisting that the former NDC government completely abandoned the Asomdwe Park.
The Asomdwe Park, formerly known as the Geese Park, was redesigned in 2012 to be the final resting place for the late President who passed away on July 24, 2012.
