THE ABANDONED KUMASI CHILDREN’S PARK.

Story by Mary Adwoa Asamoah.

Kumasi children’s park Previous state

Psychologists say ” Children turn to be timid and narrowed in thinking, if they do not engage other children from different cultures at a common playground”.

In due of this after the 1960- 1973 coup de’ tat, the then Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware ll, through the then Amakomhene Nana Mensah, released 15 acres of land to the Ashanti Regional Department of Children and Social Protection as a royal gift.In the I980’s, the Department developed the land into the Kumasi Children’s Park and a funfair was held by the then Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware ll, to commissioned the park to serve as a recreational center for children in Kumasi and its environs.

According to a source who’s name is withheld, the park is no longer in the hands of the Department of Children and Social protectection, because the land handed to them by the then Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware Il was not documented.

It’s Current state

He said the Children’s park had been entrusted into the hands of the Otumfuo Charity Foundation under the leadership of her Royal Ladyship, Lady Julia Osei tutu.He continued that, the park had been abandoned for more than 20 years now and has now become a home for criminals.

Through undercover and indepth interview to discover if indeed the park is no longer in the care of the Department of Children and Social Protection as we learnt , it was discovered that , the Kumasi Children’s Park which used to be the hearts of Children and adults in Kumasi and its environs has been abandoned and is where criminals and drug peddlers now lay ambush and it’s no longer in the care of the Department.The Kumasi Children’s Park is located at Amakom, along the Accra – Kumasi main road, in Afful Nkwanta electoral area.

The park is surrounded by important academic centres and institutions like, the Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI), The West African Examination Council (WAEC), Workers College, Ghana Baptist University College, Kumasi Anglican Senior High School, Amakom Adventist M/A Basic School, among others.This shows the park is located at the center of the city.

The park which has a multifunctional facilities including, a library facility named after the former Queen mother of Ashanti, Nana Afia Kobi Ampem library, a toilet, a urinal, a football pitch, a pavilion, among others, has been deteriorated.

In an interview with the former Assembly Member for Afful Nkwanta who is also a retired lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmacy, KNUST, Hon Lawrence Aidoo, he confirmed that ,the park has been given to the Otumfuo Charity Foundation and it’s no longer in the care of the Department of Children and Social Protection.

He revealed that, after the collapsed of the park in 2007, the two main institutions that needed to ensure the park was used for the purpose it was built for ,were in a tussle over it.According to him, While the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) wanted to use the park as a trade fair centre, the Ghana Commission on Children on the otherhand wanted to keep the park for the purpose it was built.

He said, because of the tussle between these two main institutions, the park was abandoned. “But not until 2009, the department of the then Vice Chancellor(VC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) , professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa appeared in the picture to redeveloped the park, but that same year a letter from Manshyia palace invaded that the park had been entrusted to the Otumfuo Charity Foundation Under the Leadership of her Royal Ladyship, Lady Julia Osei Tutu, the wife of Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll”.

He revealed.The Kumasi Children’s park is where encrochers and hooligans now operate. The Afia Kobby Ampem library built to develop and encouraged reading among children to promote academic in the city, has now become habitat for criminals and drug peddlers.The merry-go-round which was used by school children to ease pressure after school has been diminished into the Forest without traces.

And all the facilities have been deteriorated.The pavilion has now become home for mad people and worship center for some churches.For residents of Afful Nkwanta and neighbouring areas like, Fante Newton, Amakom, etc, open defication has become the order of the day and diseases keep looming.

The Kumasi Children’s park has now turn into one of the largest forest in the heart of Kumasi, where criminals lay ambush to unleash terror on innocent people who use the place as a footpath. Speaking with one of the drug peddlers our team met at the park, who gave his name as , Kwame Boateng, he said there is a caretaker who take money from them and give them the place to stay.

According to Boateng, he hails from the Eastern part of Ghana and came to Kuamsi to make ends meet for himself and his two children who are in the care of his mother, but life hasn’t been fair to him hence he ended up at the place.” A friend introduced the place to me and I have to indulge in the activities that goes on here else I can’t get a place to stay, since I can’t afford to rent a room” He lamented.In an interview with the caretaker named Baaba, he said he hasn’t been ordered to take care of the place but looking at how the place has been abandoned for so many years, he moved in to stay there and perform a duty of a caretaker.

He confirmed that all sorts of criminal activities go on but he can’t do anything about it.According to Citinews online, the Assembly Member for Afful Nkwanta, Daniel Otuo Acheampong voiced that, they collect an average of two dead bodies per month because the place lies in the middle of the city, some people use the place as footpath and are attacked by the criminals and some are killed after being robbed.

Citinews online stated that, in 2022, Amoamanhene Nana Agyenim Boateng confirmed that the Manshyia palace is set to redevelop the Kumasi Children’s park and calls for investors who have interest to help redevelop the park. But for two years now after this confirmation, the Kumasi Children’s Park has not seen any changes but rather the multifunctional facility keeps deteriorating, and all sorts of immoralities still go on.

By the findings of our investigation, it was discovered that, many investors had shown up to help redevelop the park,but the hooping amount involved in the redevelopment of the park discouraged them. Looking at the initial and the current state of the Kumasi Children’s park , it reveals it’s climax is a sad one and lots need to be done to save this memorable multifunctional facility from perishing.

The question is, would Kumasi Children’s park ever see the light of it’s glory as it used to be some 30 years ago?The onus now lies on the Otumfuo Charity Foundation under the leadership of her Ladyship, Lady Julia Osei Tutu as a matter of urgency to work closely with Department of Children to save the Kumasi Children’s Park from dying out in the heart of the City.

Source: (Undercover and indepth interview) (Citinews online)