West Ridge in Accra in Korle Klottey District, Greater Accra Region, Ghana — Coastal Plain (West Africa)
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)
The original statue of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah which stood in front of Parliament House, Accra attacked by a mob in the wake of a military and police coup d’etat on 24th February 1966
Recovered for the National Museum in 1975
Mounted by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board and unveiled on Thursday, March 3, 1977, by Mr. E. Owusu Fordwor.
(Commissioner for Education and Culture)
Erected 1977.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Government & Politics. A significant historical date for this entry is February 24, 1966.
Location. 5° 33.608′ N, 0° 12.371′ W. Marker is in Accra, Greater Accra Region, in Korle Klottey District. It is in West Ridge. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Barnes Road and Tsiranana, on the left when traveling south. The marker and statue are in a small statuary park south of the National Museum of Ghana. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Barnes Rd, Accra GR, Ghana. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies. King Tackie Tawiah I (approx. 1.6 kilometers away); Martyrs of the Rule of Law (approx. 1.7 kilometers away); Accra Stadium Disaster (approx. 1.7 kilometers away); Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (approx. 1.8 kilometers away); Ghana in Two World Wars (approx. 1.9 kilometers away); Liberation Day Monument (approx. 2 kilometers away); Fort Ussher (approx. 2.4 kilometers away); Ghana Armed Forces Memorial (approx. 3 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Accra.
Also see . . . Kwame Nkrumah at Wikipedia. (Submitted on February 7, 2023.)
Additional commentary.
1. Monument history from "Ghanaian Monument Wars", Cahiers d'etudes africaines, 2017
One gesture of the “symbolic resurrection” of the nation’s founder was nonetheless realised under the Acheampong regime. In 1975, the Director of the Museums and Monuments Board was informed that the ex-President’s statue, which had been removed in the wake of the 1966 coup, was still being kept at the central police station in Accra and would be better off if transferred to the National Museum for preservation. In fact, not only one, but two damaged statues—one headless and one armless—had been safeguarded at the police barracks and were now transported to the National Museum. Ghana’s twentieth anniversary of independence in 1977 offered an occasion to exhibit one of the original statues, the armless one, in the museum garden, where it still stands today, on a renewed pedestal, but with the initial plaque: See marker inscription
— Submitted February 7, 2023.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 24, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 7, 2023, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana. This page has been viewed 161 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on February 7, 2023, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana.