Work begins on $50m Pan African Heritage museum project

Work on the Pan African Heritage World Museum (PAHWM) at Pomadze Hills, near Winneba, in the Central Region has started.

The construction which started last Thursday with a sod-cutting ceremony and tree planting exercise is expected to be completed in three years.

The museum complex, estimated to cost more than $50 million, will host galleries and a theatre, heroes/heroines park, on African herbal plant farm with chalets, a community centre for concerts, festivals, youth meetings and games, a palace of African kingdoms, residential accommodation, helicopter landing pad, parking and other facilities.

The first phase is, however, projected to be ready in two years.

After offering libation, 1,000 assorted tree species were planted on the site with support from the Rotary Club of Winneba.

It was witnessed by some traditional leaders, including the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, Odeefuo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, and the Chief of Gomoa Pomadze, Nana Apata Kofi, who offered the libation.

In attendance were the Founder and Executive Chairman of the PAHWM, Kojo Yankah; the Chief Executive Officer of PAHWM, Rev. Professor Pash Obeng; the Winneba District Governor of the Rotary Club, David Osei Amankwah, and other stakeholders from Nigeria and Barbados who share in the vision.

In 2021, President Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the construction of PAHWM.

Eye-opener

Mr Yankah, who is also the President of African University College of Communications, said for a long time Ghanaians and Africans were miseducated but with the project, it would be an eye-opener to a whole lot of people and not just Africans.

Another purpose of the project, he explained, was to help bridge the gap between Africans and people of African descent who had been separated for too long.

“It is now our turn to learn what we did not learn about years ago and then inspire ourselves and why can't we be proud of ourselves.

We believe this project is an eye-opener to a whole lot of people not just Africans,” he stressed.

Mr Yankah said the realisation that his education had alienated him from his society was what inspired him to initiate the project.

Rev. Prof. Obeng stated that the project was encouraging because apart from people from the Diaspora embracing it, “we on our own have raised the needed funds to execute it”.

He added that since it had also received endorsement from the government we know it would honour its commitment towards completion of the project.

Exciting

Mr Amankwah, for his part, said the project was “exciting” and that the Rotary Club was determined to make an impact in Ghana over the next decade by planting as many trees as possible and improving on the environment.

Odeefuo Buadu VIII said the project was unique and had the blessings of the President, chiefs, the African Union, the United Nations Education Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Association of African Universities and other relevant institutions.

He said it was also going to boost tourism and impact positively the socio-economic well-being of the people, adding that it would become the gateway to other tourism sites in the Central Region when completed.

Barbados, Nigeria

The CEO of Savvy Tech Engineering Company in Nigeria, Bobby Benson, and the Commercial and Cultural Attache to the Barbados High Commission to Ghana, Phil Phillips, described the project as a formidable one that would provide in-depth education to both adults and the youth from the two countries when it was completed and opened to the public.