Nine Graves at Asomdwee Park

There are eight more graves in the newly-commissioned presidential cemetery christened Asomdwee Park at the Osu Castle in Accra where the late President John Evans Atta Mills was buried on Friday, August 10, 2012. It is not immediately clear why the number of graves is nine as officials are tight-lipped. Attempts by DAILY GUIDE to get explanations about the curious structures have mostly proved futile. Meanwhile, a few metres from the grave and lining each side of the narrow walkway to the grave, there are 10 black monolithic structures (five on each side). The structures have a close resemblance to the base of statues. WO1 Alhaji Baaba Agbah (rtd), the supervisor of the Asomdwee Park, confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that the 10 monoliths would hold the busts of subsequent presidents buried at the cemetery. About two weeks ago, the Funeral Planning Committee (FPC) of President Mills�s funeral picked the Asomdwee Park, formerly called the Geese Park near the Castle driveway, to be Ghana�s first presidential mausoleum. At this place, all subsequent Ghanaian presidents would be buried, provided they desired that. Initially, the Kofi Totobi Quakyi-led FPC toyed with the idea of siting the presidential cemetery at the Jubilee House where nine graves were dug by a Chinese contractor. The committee was forced to back down after intense public outcry, with the intervention of a foreign diplomat. The powerful diplomat in the country, according to DAILY GUIDE sources, prevailed on the Mahama administration before that decision was dropped for Geese Park. DAILY GUIDE gathered that as early as March 2012, the National Security Coordinator, Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (rtd), started beautifying the park which served as a �free range� place of convenience for residents of the area. The National Security capo ordered that the place be cleared. A little pool and a fountain were built there to house exotic Geese imported from an unknown place. President Mills is the first to benefit from the burial site. However, the other structures around him have raised a lot of questions from several members of the public who visit the Asomdwee Park to catch a glimpse of the presidential mausoleum. The park was opened to the public on Sunday, and it will stay open till Saturday. According to WO1 Alhassan, over 5,000 people trooped into the cemetery daily to either pay their last respects to the departed president or merely satisfy their curiosity. The site is expected to be transformed into a tourist site, where people from all walks of life within and outside Ghana can go to pay homage to the fallen presidents of this country. Annan Freddy, a tourist at the Asomdwee Park, on Monday, echoed the general expectation of the people who visited the burial site. He told Daily Guide that he was certain that the place would become very popular in the nearest future. The presidential cemetery was constructed by Chinese contractors who completed the bulk of the construction work in typical Chinese style. The mausoleum and its various components were completed in just three days.