The fourteen-member United States (US) Congressional delegation led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Patricia Pelosi yesterday paid a historic visit to the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.
The visit formed part of a four-day state visit to Ghana by the delegation made up of 12 members of the black congressional caucus.
They were accompanied by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Stephanie S. Sullivan and some officials from the embassy in Accra.
The team was welcomed on arrival by the Director of the Mausoleum, Alhaji Abubakari Issah Osman.
In a rare historic moment, the delegation jointly laid a wreath on behalf of the people of the US in front of the bronze statue of Dr Nkrumah and also offered a solemn prayer for the people.
The team also signed the visitor’s book placed at the foyer and availed themselves for photo opportunities after a tour of the facility.
Divided into two groups, they were taken round the facility by the tour guides on standby, Mr Edmund Quoa and Ms Agatha Gosu-Dinku.
They were shown round the Mausoleum where the remains of late Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his wife Fathia Nkrumah have been kept as well as the museum where the works and artefacts of the late president are kept.
The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Park is an iconic and historical monuments erected in 1991 by the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in honour of the first president of Ghana.
Its significance is marked by the fact that it is situated at the polo grounds which is the exact location Dr Nkrumah was declared the country’s independence in 1957.
Apart from the Mausoleum which contains the remains of the late President and his wife, the facility located on a 5.3-acre land also has a historical museum that contains the books and works of Osagyefo who is also seen as the torchbearer of Pan Africanism on the continent.
By Cliff Ekuful
