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The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), the institution mandated to acquire, protect and conserve collections in museums, has begun refurbishing all the nine recognised public museums dotted around the country.

The works include structural refurbishments, improvements in the outlook of the galleries and the expansion of the collections in some of the museums, including the acquisition of seven vintage cars used by former Presidents of the country.

The nine museums are the National Museum located along the Barnes Road and the Museum of Science and Technology (MST), both at Adabraka, as well as the Ussher Fort (Fort Crèvecœur) Museum of Slavery at James Town, all in Accra.

The rest are the Upper East Regional Museum in Bolgatanga, the Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Saint George’s Castle museums in the Central Region, the San Antonio and Fort

The wildlife section had skeletons and images of various amphibious species, herbivores and carnivores.

It is difficult for visitors to the gallery to miss the intriguing upper jaw bone of a whale that hung from the ceiling.

At the transportation section, items on display included the first tyre produced in the country by the defunct Firestone Company Limited, and the first local bicycle produced in 1978, known as “champion".

A 10-year-old boy and pupil of the AME Zion School at Mamprobi, Wisdom Toxia, built the wooden bicycle.

Since then, Toxia has developed a successful career in bicycle manufacturing and now exports high-end racing bamboo bicycles.

The chassis of a Rover vehicle designed by Maurice Wilks in 1947 and built by the United Africa Company in 1968 can also be found at the gallery.

The gallery is also host to a silvery propeller engine and a model of the Bia River Ship.

Just upon entering the premises of the MST, the visitor is greeted by an old traction engine, a donation from the Akwatia Diamond Mine.

It is one of the first machines used to cart timber from the hinterland to the coast.