By Kingsley Webora TANKEH
The Asante Professional Club (APC) has launched its 10th anniversary in Accra to celebrate the club’s achievements over the past ten years and renew the resolve of members to accelerate their efforts toward the development of Asanteman.
The anniversary celebration is on the theme ‘Honouring our Roots; Shaping our Future’.
Describing how the club came into being, the President of APC, Dr. Isaac Augustus Antwi, said: “It is the vision of one person who felt that professionals must unite to develop Asanteman”.
Speaking at the launch, he buttressed the club’s objective of facilitating development in Asanteman by revealing that the club will construct a fully equipped ICT laboratory in a deprived community in the Asante Kingdom as part of the anniversary celebrations.
“This year, we are going to build 40-seater ICT lab as our legacy project. You can see the willingness and enthusiasm in members to donate toward the project. Come November, we will commission it,” he shared.
The club will also host the 8th Opemsuo Lecture in Kumasi on the topic ‘Impact of The Akan Language on National Development’.
This comes at a time when many African languages face the risks of extinction and calls intensify for us to ditch colonial languages and promote and uphold our very own indigenous languages.
Dr. Antwi stressed:“We must have Ghanaian languages as part of our life. We should not lose our traditional values. We should not lose our social values”.
The Opemsuo lecture series provide a platform to share thoughts on issues bothering on development, culture and governance.
Feasibility studies would also be conducted toward establishing a financial institution to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asante Kingdom.
An anniversary banquet would be hosted at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, followed by a thanksgiving service.
To climax the celebrations, members of the club will join the Asantehene and the Asante people to mark the last Akwasidae on the Asanteman calendar.
Reflecting on 10 years of enormous impact in Asanteman, Dr. Antwi expressed gratitude to all members of the club for their genuine service to Asanteman. He encouraged them to double their efforts to help bridge the developmental gaps in Asanteman and Ghana as a whole.
“It is all about development,” he noted.
The king of the Asante Kingdom (Asantehene), Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II, who is the Life Patron of the club, was acclaimed for his tremendous support and continuous guidance.
While enumerating the numerous successful projects undertaken by the club during the last 10 years, he quoted an old adage “3nam dodo) ns3e nkwan,” implying that Ghana needs more groups like APC to complement the central government’s development efforts.
For this reason, the club has formed diaspora branches in the USA and the UK.
“Today, we can boast of branches in the USA and UK, where well-meaning professionals of Asante descent are helping in various forms to enhance our development agenda – with plans underway to form more branches within and outside Ghana,” he said.
Dr. Antwi is calling on Asante professional scattered across the country and beyond to endeavour to join the club.
“It is a good feeling to belong to Asante Professionals Club and I urge all Asantes in Ghana and the diaspora to join. Our forefathers have given us wisdom and wealth, let us come together and develop Asanteman and build a legacy,” he noted.
“Let’s come together because the cake will be bigger and we can all share among our communities,” he advised.
He urged the other many tribes dotted across the Ghana to also come together like they did 10 years ago to develop their communities.
In closing, the President of APC, Dr. Antwi, extended an invitation to the general public, saying: “We expect well-meaning Ghanaians who are passionate about the development of this country to support us”.
Established in 2015, the Asante Professionals Club serves to bring all professionals of Asante descent together to network, unite and develop Asanteman.
The club comprises Asantes from various professions – health professionals, teachers, lawyers, development practitioners, accountants, finance experts, bankers, politicians and entrepreneurs – who are of the Akan descent.
Over the past decade, it has engaged in a number of community development projects, notably the renovation of Asante Library in Kumasi, donations to the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, medical support to thousands of community members and students through its community and schools outreach programme.
Over 20,000 students have also benefitted from the club’s interventions – mentoring, career guidance and counselling, sponsorship for university education, national service placement support and helping them secure jobs after school.
