January - March 2016 •
The Lion King
• 27
HISTORICAL SITES
Black Star Square
Also known as Independence Square,
this is a public square in Accra, Ghana.
Bordered by the Accra Sports Stadium
and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial
Park. It is the second-largest city
square in the world after Tiananmen
Square in China.
Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum
This memorial park located in down-
town Accra is dedicated to the prom-
inent Ghanaian leader Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah. It houses the bodies of Dr.
Nkrumah and his wife Fathia and is
meant to represent an upside down
sword which in the Akan culture is a
symbol of peace. The Mausoleum is
surrounded by water which is a symbol
of life.
Kakum National Park, located in
the coastal environs of the Central
Region of Ghana, covers an area
of 375 square kilometres (145 sq mi).
Established in 1931 the area is covered
with tropical rainforest.
Cape Coast Castle
The Cape Coast Township is bounded
to the south by the Gulf of Guinea and
the beach front created by the ocean
coupled with its proximity to Elmina
(La Mina- the first point of call by the
Europeans) makes it one of the great
tourist attractions in Ghana.
Larabanga
During the British times, in Ghana
there was a road that was laid near
the Larabanga Mosque, a stone was
removed during the process to make
way for the road. The next day, the
stone was found again on the same
place it was displaced from. The stone
was again removed from the way and
the same thing happened the next
day. Later, the officials decided to
A firm believer in African liberation,
Nkrumah pursued a radical pan-
African policy, playing a key role in
the formation of the Organization of
African Unity (OAU) in 1963.
During his tenor as president, he led
a massive socio-economic develop-
ment that saw the springing up of
infrastructure across Ghana. However,
as time passed, he was accused of
being a dictator and in 1964 also of
forming a one-party state, with himself
as president for life as well as actively
promoting a cult of his own personal-
ity.
Overthrown by the military in 1966,
with the help of the West, he spent his
last years in exile, dying in Bucharest,
Romania, on April 27, 1972. His legacy
and dream of a “United States of
Africa” still remains a goal among
many.
build the road around the stone and it
became the mystic stone.
Lake Volta is a large reservoir con-
tained behind the Akosombo Dam,
it is completely within the country of
Ghana, and it has a surface area of
8,502 km2.
The Akosombo Dam
The Akosombo Dam provides electric-
ity for much of the country, as well as
for export to Togo, Benin and nearby
countries, to earn foreign exchange
value.
NOTABLE PERSONALITY
OSAGYEFO DR. KWAME NKRUMAH
Kwame Nkrumah
Born September 21, 1909, Osagyefo
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was Ghana’s
first president. He attended Achimota
School and also trained as a teach-
er. He received a B.A. from Lincoln
University in 1939, an STB (Bachelor of
Sacred Theology) in 1942, a Master
of Science in education from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1942, and
a Master of Arts in Philosophy the fol-
lowing year.
During
his
lifetime,
Nkrumah
was awarded honorary doctor-
ates by Lincoln University, Moscow
State University, Cairo University,
Jagielloniaan University in Krakow,
Poland, and Humboldt University in
former East Germany.
FIRST PRESIDENT OF GHANA
Black Star Monument
GHANA |
COUNTRY FOCUS
