By Naa Shormei Odonkor
Kumasi, March 14, GNA – Government has been urged to invest in the expansion of the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum at the Kumasi cultural centre to help showcase historical materials, crafts and artefacts of the Asante people.
Mr. Peter King Appiah, Public Relations Officer of the Ashanti Regional Centre for National Culture (CNC), who made the call, said the expansion of the museum would also help accommodate large groups of tourists, who visited the site, while generating more revenue for the country.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Kumasi, he said the current room capacity of the museum, was inadequate, considering the number of people who visited the site every day.
“The museum was built by the traditional leaders of the Ashanti Kingdom in 1956 when the population was not huge; it was able to accommodate a few visitors.
However, times have changed, and we have a lot of people, including the youth, students and adults of both local and foreign origins, who visit the site.
The historical materials displayed in the museum needed to be spaced out for a proper and better view by the tourists”, Mr Appiah stated.
According to him, various renovations had been carried out on the building.
However, it was now time for an expansion since the museum would be 70 years next year.
Additionally, Mr Appiah said the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, was the third highest visited tourist sites in the Ashanti region and contributed to the preservation and promotion of the Ghanaian cultural heritage.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to step in by expanding the museum which was highly visited and contributed to the economic development of the country.
“If the museum was still being managed by the traditional authorities, it would have seen massive development,” he stated.
Mr. Appiah observed that during major festivities in the country, people flooded the site to have a look at the historical materials preserved at the museum.
Presently, over 30 schools have scheduled with the CNC to visit the museum as part of the Ghana Month celebration.
Mr. Appiah said investing in museums and other tourist sites would generate a lot of income to transform every sector of Ghana’s economy.
GNA
KOM/BM