……… a diplomat and a business man - Alfred Woyome

The Austrian Honorary Vice Consul to Ghana Alfred Woyome seems be the true philanthropist for this country and beyond.

The Man Alfred Woyome - Alfred left the shores of Ghana for Europe, specifically France, to pursue higher education after serving as the youngest member of the Educational Committee for the Greater Accra Region under the June 4 revolution in Ghana. In France, he attended several colleges and as his hallmark in education, obtained certificates in Social Sciences.

Alfred became a consultant to most African governments, particularly Northern Africa, and doubled as a businessman. As a Pan Africanist, he served on several boards of the Pan African Organisations in Africa, eg. I.G.P.C - Tripoli . He was also the coordinator of Ghana in The International General People’s Congress, one of the organistions that pushed for the formation of the African Union (AU). He is an advent defender of women and children rights and also a human right activist. As an anti corruption crusader in Africa, he supports the middle line journalists and assist in championing the anti corruption drive thereby giving hope to the youth. Alfred believes in empowering of the youth towards personal development, irrespective of color, race and creed. He is sponsoring over 1,500 children from kindergarten to the tertiary level. Alfred has donated several acres of land for the building of a soccer academy for the youth in Ghana, which will be managed by Red-Bull. He donates to lots of churches to build the chapels: from the Catholic through to the Pentecostal Churches in Ghana.

He returned to Ghana from Europe in the late 90’s to wipe up his family position in the real estates business. Alfred was later nominated to the position of Austrian Honorary Vice Consul to Ghana, and has since been doubling with his businesses with his diplomatic activities.

Alfred Woyome started his elementary education in Accra and Agona Swedru (Fante area) and later in the Volta Region. He came out successfully from his primary school into the middle school with distinction, then to secondary school also with distinction (Bishop Herman College, in the Volta Region) supported with three scholarships. Two of those scholarships came from the state and the third one from the secondary school. (The scholarships were, Cocoa Marketing Board Scholarship, the government of Ghana scholarship and that of his secondary school) Alfred comes from a family of law makers and successful business people and also from the royalty of the Fievie State in south-eastern Ghana, owners of over 240,000 hectors of land (one of the three provinces that first constituted the then Gold Coast, now Ghana). His father worked in the Judiciary and later became a Chief Bailiff and then a Magistrate, during the colonial area. His grandfather was the chief registrar for the West African Appeals Court, situated at Ada-Foah in the Greater Accra Region.

At Bishop Herman College, he studied science and arts, and won several international awards both for himself and the school. One of the overall high rated best student awards won by Alfred was an essay competition organised for all sixth formers across Ghana. But he was in form three as at the time. The competition awarded him prizes from the Commonwealth Society of Ghana, and from the Queen of England, at the time. In school Alfred developed the habit of writing articles to the various media houses in Ghana, particularly The People’s Daily Graphic, one of Ghana’s widely circulated newspaper. He had one of his articles, entitled “If Principles are Acted” published on his birthday.

Currently, Alfred is assisting in the quality of health care delivery, (eg, Sogakope, Begroo, Gushingu District Hospital) youth development and recreational centers in some communities across some Africa countries. Alfred, with his colleagues, Ingeborg and Ray Smith, together with an international non-profit making organization in Austria, over three years, give free medical care to some communities in Ghana. Over 5000 people undergo free eye operations, whilst over 3000 people receive free eye lenses every year. He was involved in the shaping out of the idea for the hosting of the CAN 2008 soccer tournament in Ghana, starting January 10, 2008.

One of the most heart warming news coming from Alfred is the fact that, next on his agenda is the establishment of legacies and institutions across Africa to support the fight against HIV/AIDS; which he said the world should stay tuned to.

Source: B. Kwame Tawiah
BrassRing Media Network