That, he said, would help protect the country's environment as well as promote eco-tourism.

The President stated that such practices did not only discourage people from visiting the country’s tourist sites but affected the environment negatively.

Stone Age Park

Known as The Stone Age Park, it sits on a 52-acre land that has been donated by the Abetifihene, Achamfour Asiedu Agyeman III.

Being the ancestral home of the Kwahu people, dating back over 12,500 years, the place has been converted into an eco-tourism park.

The multi-purpose tourist site and museum depicts the indigenous Stone Age era and how people lived.

Prior to the development of the park into its current form, part of the land used to be a refuse dump.

Launch

Launching the park during this year’s Kwahu Easter celebration on Saturday, April 8, 2023, President Akufo-Addo also called on relevant stakeholders in the tourism sector to contribute significantly to the promotion of eco-tourism in the country.

That, the President stated, would help to generate the needed revenue for the country to create more employment opportunities for the youth.

He said the economic impact of eco-tourism could not be underestimated and, therefore, commended the proprietor of the park, Benjamin Addo, for the initiative which involved converting a refuse dump site into a park that would help to tell the history of the people of Kwahu.

President Akufo-Addo said the move would help to protect the environment and also preserve the history of his people and that of Ghana.

The President also appealed to chiefs in the Kwahu enclave to help protect the environment and the park, stressing that eco-tourism was contributing significantly to revenue generation in many economies in Africa.

Establishment of the park

For his part, the founder of the park said even though he initiated the project, the park belonged to the people of Kwahu.

Mr Addo said his greatest mission was to build a museum that would serve as a curator of Ghanaian history, particularly that of the Kwahu people.

The Kwahu area, he indicated, boasted many tourist sites, including Oworobong Waterfalls, Bruku Rock, Afram River, Airjays, Mystical Cave, Abetifi Stone Age, Echo Ravine/Padlock Rock, and Kwahu Aduamaoh Fort.

Mr Addo, who is an indigene of Abetifi, indicated that his outfit was pushed to establish the park after the Archaeology Department of the University of Ghana (UG) confirmed the results of an excavation at the caves through carbon dating.

Briefing the gathering on the rationale for the creation of the park, the Stone Age Park founder said having lived in Germany for about 25 years, he decided to come home for some holidays together with his family.

Excavations at the caves

He narrated that it was during his holidays visit that he met the Head of the Archaeology Department of the University of Ghana (UG), Dr Derek Watson, who, at the time, had come to the Bosumpra caves at Abetifi to conduct some archaeological excavations.

Mr Addo added that in 2013, Dr Watson wrote to him, telling him that the carbon dating they conducted on the artefacts found at the Bosumpra Caves indicated that people lived at the site about 12,500 years ago, more than 10,500 years before Jesus Christ was born.

He said when he read the letter from Dr Watson, he was shocked about the findings and, therefore, decided to work to convert the place into a park that would tell the story of the Kwahu people and Ghana as a whole.

He explained that prior to this excavation works, the caves had always been considered sacred by the Abetifi community.

“My contact with Dr Watson confirmed our unscientific curiosity,” Mr Addo said, adding “this finding further propelled my ambition for the development of this heritage site, which has been neglected for years, into a tourist attraction.”

Improve roads

The Omanhene of the Kwahu Traditional Area, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong, whose speech was read by the Kwahu Mawerehene, Baffour Agyare Asiamah, called on the government to help rehabilitate the bad road leading to the Odweanoma Paragliding site.

That, the chief stated, would help to attract more tourists to visit the area.