Asante chiefs are lauding their leader, Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for making a positive mark in Asanteman and Ghana since ascending the Golden Stool.
Chief Linguist, Nana Nsuase Poku Agyemang III, told Nhyira News that achievements in education, health, peace and security merit celebration.
The Asantehene earlier asked his sub-chiefs to give a candid assessment of his stewardship as he marks 20 years as King of the Asante Kingdom.
Nana Agyemang justified the unanimous endorsement of Otumfuo’s leadership: “Almost everyone in Ghana has heard about what Otumfuo has done 20 years since he became Otumfuo. What he has done is not limited to Ashanti but it cuts across, nationwide. So many people admire it; so many people appreciate that, so that is the main motivating factor.”
He spoke to Nhyira News at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital.
Cataloguing the achievements of the Asantehene, Nana Agyemang said the achievements of the King ‘cherished’ even by the Pope is unparalleled, especially in education since the introduction of the Otumfuo Education Fund.
The Fund, he said, has been expanded into the Otumfuo Charity Foundation to include education, health, culture, water and sanitation.
Programmes under the education arm of the Foundation include Otumfuo Teachers Award, Otumfuo Scholarship Scheme, Otumfuo Mobile Learning Project, Ladies of Tomorrow Mentorship Programme and French Quiz.
It has provided scholarships to over 20, 000 students at the tertiary education level and recognised deserving teachers in deprived and hard-to-reach areas for their hard work and contribution to education.
It has since refocused its attention on supporting institutions in the provision of infrastructure such as classroom blocks and mobile library among others.
The introduction of mobile learning project received support from corporate bodies such as ECOM Global Cocoa which supported with GH¢1.4 million sponsorship package. The project has helped expand education resources to hard-to-reach areas.
In the area of water sanitation, the Asantehene has been instrumental, working tirelessly with Water Health Ghana, for instance, to provide potable and wholesome water to needy communities.
Such projects have been completed at Kantinkyire, Effiduase, among others as plants that can purify over 3,000 litres of water in an hour have been installed. Boreholes have also been constructed for the Asuhyiae community.
According to Nana Agyemang, the role played by the Asantehene as chairman of Eminent Chiefs who mediated and helped resolve the over decade-long logjam between Abudus and Andanis in Dagbon could not be over-emphasised.
Activities for the anniversary, which began officially on March 27, have since been announced.
Ahead of a grand durbar on April 21 to climax the event, an investment forum, dubbed World-Meet-in-Ghana, is scheduled for May 4, 2019, at the Manhyia Palace.
A statue will also be unveiled in Otumfuo’s honour to
coincide with the sod-cutting of the second phase of the Central Market
Redevelopment Project.
A video exhibition will also be held to showcase his
achievements over the 20 years.
A three-week funeral ban, among other customary and traditional observations are in force until April 29, 2019.
Source: Ghana|Nhyira FM| Ohemeng Tawiahh
