Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, has refuted claims that the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre is in disrepair.
He stated that the centre continues to welcome visitors from across the country and remains a significant tourist attraction in Ghana.
This response follows Japhet Aryiku, Executive Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Museum Foundation, explaining the foundation’s choice to manage the centre for 50 years.
“The reason why we want to be there for a longer time is because the place has deteriorated.
We don’t believe that the Ghana government or its agencies have the knowledge or the excitement about the life or works of Du Bois to care most about the place.”Mr Aryiku said.
However, speaking in an interview on Eyewitness News on Friday, August 23, 2024, Ablakwa strongly refuted these claims, asserting that the Du Bois Centre remains a vibrant and well-maintained site.
“Don’t forget that we are talking about Du Bois who is such an icon. People come there always, it is one of our major tourist attractions.
It is not true that the place has been abandoned and all of that.
“When you get there, you will see Africans, people of African descent, scholars from all over the world coming there, visiting Du Bois’s tomb, reading his books.
The place is also used for events, particularly, the creative arts industry for poetry and all of that.
So, this claim that the place is as if it is so abandoned, there is no value.
We are talking about prime cantonment lands just near the US embassy, who is valuing that,” he asked.
