Posted by Chester Morton / Wednesday, 21 February 2018 / No comments
Apex College Students Tour Christiansborg Castle
By
Divine Sewornu Dzokoto
On Tuesday, 20th February,
2018, a cross section of students from Apex College, in Accra, visited the
Christiansborg Castle, in Osu. The students had just left the Legislature of
Ghana where they had witnessed the approval by the house of the nomination of
Mr. Martin Alamisi Amidu as the nation’s very first Special Public Prosecutor.
The students were made to file in two
lines through the once dreaded gates of Rawlings’ Castle, with remarkably,
still beautiful surroundings of the over 300 years old pre-colonial architecture.
Their guide was a well-spoken lady,
probably in her mid 20s. Dressed in a well tailored grey coloured straight
dress, she took the students first to the very first section of the Castle,
which was built in the 1600s. The land, which was acquired from the Ga
Paramount Chief, Okaikoi, cost 3,200 gold florins. Standing in the Castle,
surrounded by the students in a horse-shoe fashion, facing the Gulf of Guinea
portion of the Atlantic Ocean, the guide spoke eloquently about the early
beginnings of the construction of the Castle. She said the Danes were the first
to build their Castle which they called the Christiansborg Castle after the
then Danish king.
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| A cross section of Apex students in a bus en-route to the Castle |
Then they were taken to a gallery,
where the pictures of illustrious Ghanaians adorned the walls and stands. The
people in the gallery were exceptional in their various fields, including
sports, fashion, politics, etc. There was an early morning storm which had
overturned some of the exhibits, breaking some of the glass casings. A wide
opened space took the students to a terrace overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
They observed the many rubber sachets that had collected into the Gulf of
Guinea that morning, confirming signals that the non-biodegradable materials collecting
into the Sea are a menace to the environment.
From the picture gallery, the students
were taken to a room that was once the office of the former president, Jerry
John Rawlings. Though the office was empty, it depicted a sense of modesty and a
serious approach to duty on the part of the former president when he was at the
realm of affairs. By the time the former president’s office was constructed, the
size of the Castle had increased almost four times, according to the guide.
The students learnt that in 1850, the
Castle was sold to the British. The British had used it as a political post and
the governors ruled from there until it was abandoned in 1890. In 1902, the
Castle reverted to its use as the seat of colonial administration. After the
attainment of independence, the then president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah continued
expanding the Castle by the construction of other blocks. In all the Christiansborg
Castle remained a beautiful piece of architecture spanning several centuries.
Outside again, the students were taken
to the Castle gardens. A very beautiful, well kept garden. The garden used to
be occupied by the local community but they were later driven away by the
colonialists and since they did not want to engage in any further construction,
it was decided that the place be used as a garden. The relics of the shrines of
the local people are still visible.
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| Group picture by students and tutors |
In all honesty, many of the students
confirmed that the trip to the House of Legislature and the Christiansborg
castle was a great one. They are slated to visit the Kakum National Park by the
end of June.
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