John Boadu Proposes Institution To Immortalise Former-Presidents

The General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has proposed putting in place an institution to handle matters relating to immortalising former presidents.

John Boadu said protecting the memory of the country’s departed leaders will create a lasting legacy for the nation as a whole.

Speaking to Joy News Thursday after filing past the mortal remains of the former Vice President, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, Mr Boadu said argued that putting such institution in place will benefit the country.

“I think it won’t be out of place to have a presidential monument arrangement where all and sundry that rise to that level can be protected…” Mr Boadu said.

“I believe it is important that we should have an institution that will take care of people and that will be a more lasting legacy for all of us as a people,” he added.

Mr Boadu, however, rejected the criticism that the NPP government has neglected legacies put in place for the late John Evans Atta Mills.

A section of the public and some members of the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) have accused the government of neglecting the John Evans Atta Mills Presidential Library in Cape Coast built in memory of the former President.

The Atta Mills Memorial Library was inaugurated on July 24, 2016, by the then President John Mahama to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the death of President Mills.

The library, which has a 100-capacity auditorium, 45-seater multi-media centre, seminar rooms and a museum that holds historical materials that reflect the life and works of the late President, has remained locked since its inauguration.

But rejecting blame, Mr Boadu argued that it is better to find structures in place to immortalise all past Presidents rather than singling some of them out.

“Do we have any legacy for any of the presidents? It’s a matter of putting in place proper structures to manage these legacies we are talking about,” he said.

John Boadu also accused the NDC; arguing that they didn’t have the moral right to question the NPP ‘neglecting’ of the Atta Mills library.

“Those pointing accusing fingers in the NDC, they were in power for more than 20 years have they ever remembered the birthday of K. A. Busia,” he questioned.

Meanwhile, the late Amissah-Arthur will be laid to rest on Friday after a funeral service expected to be held at the Accra International Conference Centre.