Asantes based in Europe have been urged to contribute financially to support the education of the Ghanaian child back home.
At the inauguration of Asanteman Europe in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the President of the group, Papa Yaw Agyei, said Asanteman Europe was committed to giving back to society, especially back home in Ghana.
The inauguration ceremony was characterised by a cultural show depicting Asante heritage and offered a platform for networking, fundraising and prime time for social jamborees.
The event ground was filled to the rafters, as attendees from 11 countries in Europe, namely Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands flocked in to participate.
Assisted by his two vice-presidents, Barima Asabre and Oppong Akosah, Papa Agyei urged members to financially contribute to the fundraising effort.
Material donations came from Nana Kota Ntiamoah on behalf of Asanteman Norway, who donated 10 electric sewing machines, while an IT consultant, Dr James Owusu, donated 100 laptop computers estimated at GH¢100,000.
Collaboration
Papa Agyei said Asanteman Europe was collaborating with Village of Hope, an IT consultancy firm, to provide laptop computers in three learning centres in the Ashanti Region to support education development in Ghana on a pilot basis.
He said Kumawu, Mampong and Offinso would be the beneficiary communities for the pilot project to offer access to computer learning to create job opportunities for the youth.
The Village of Hope collaborated with the Vice-President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, to begin the “Integrated Online Learning” project to develop Ghanaian youth in the area of computer technology.
Dr Owusu said the project could also draw collaborative efforts with Asanteman Europe to actualise the theme of the inauguration.
Diaspora Relations
The Director of Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President, Jubilee House, Akwasi Awuah Ababio, said the formation of Asanteman Europe and its inauguration was in synch with the ideology of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to eliminate illiteracy.
The ideology, he emphasised, was to encourage Ghanaians in the diaspora to come together to support development in their home country, Ghana, as he applauded nananom and the executives of Asanteman Europe for their ability to raise funds to support education in deprived areas of Ghana.
He said COVID-19 as a global pandemic inhibited investment in Ghana in recent years and that he seized the opportunity to entreat Ghanaians in the diaspora not to hesitate to invest in Ghana.
Education
Ghana’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, Francis Kotia, lauded the leadership of Asanteman Europe for choosing the theme on education, adding that the theme was in direct relation to the launch of the Free SHS Education policy by the Ghana government in 2017.
He recalled the role Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Agyeman Prempeh played in the provision of quality and affordable education when he witnessed the collaboration of Manhyia Palace Royals and the Colonial Administration as well as Christian Missionaries to “ensure the spread of formal education beyond the Pra River into the forest and the northern belt” of Gold Coast (Ghana).
He said Otumfuo Osei Tutu II followed the footsteps of his predecessors when he launched the Otumfuo Education Fund and asked Asanteman Europe to work closely with this fund if possible.
The Otumfuo Brempon Baworohene, Nana Safo Agyemang, was the Guest of honour for the inauguration and pledged the support of the Asante Traditional Council for Asanteman Europe.
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