This year’s Okwahuman Association of Ohio (OAO) Easter banquet was held in Cincinnati under the theme “Development for the Okwahu Traditional Area” with one of the objectives of raising funds to support orphanages at the Okwahu Ridge.
Elder Boamah- Acheampong opened the event with a prayer while Rev. Isaac Anim in his welcome speech urged participants to use Easter as opportunity to forgive and restore broken and torn human relationships as Jesus did by dying on the Cross to restore our relationship with God.
Dr. Kwabena Dei Ofori-Attah, the key note speaker for the event, touched on how Kwahu patronage of Easter has now become a national event where all Ghanaians join friends and family to celebrate the event on the Mountain. He urged Ghanaians to emulate the hard working nature and entrepreneurial skills of the people of Kwahu so as to develop their own communities without looking to the central government to do so. He observed that, though a small group of people in Ghana, the Kwahus, affectionately called the Asase Aban, have captured the imagination and earned the respect and affection of many Ghanaians with their sense of unity, love, and self-reliance. Dr. Ofori-Attah added that although many Christians celebrate Easter in Ghana by simply eating sumptuous meals and big parties, the Kwahus move a step above these and use the occasion to plan for development projects all over the Mountain. Such activities have attracted the attention of the good people of Ghana and so it is common to see many Ghanaians using Easter as the moment to plan for development projects in their own communities.
Dignitaries at the event were Nana Asomani – Krontihene of Kwahu Tafo traditional area, Bernard Konadu - CEO of Buckeye Home Care Services, Columbus Ohio; Mr. Frederick Odame, PNC Bank, Cincinnati, OH; Enoch Ahenkora - CEO of Love and Comfort Home Care, Columbus Ohio; Erasmus Attah-Gyamfi - CEO of Arth Gates & Co Accounting & Tax Services, Columbus Ohio; Dr. Enoch Antwi - former President of the Ghanaian Association of the Greater Cincinnati Area; Dr. Alexander Anim-Mensah-Dayton Ohio, and Representatives from Prestige Tour and Travel, Columbus Ohio. Mr. Frederick Odame crowned the event with a closing prayer.
The event was well attended by several Ghanaian ethnic groups in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton, all cities within Ohio.
Alexander Anim-Mensah, PhD
Dayton, Ohio
alexraymonda@yahoo.com