Festival at Agogo

I spent the Easter weekend at Agogo in the Asante Akyem district of Ashanti Region as a guest of the Omanhene( Paramount Chief) of Agogo Traditional Atea, Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong, who was celebrating his 45th anniversary on the stool of his ancestors, with a number of activities lined up over a period of four days.

I regard Nana as a special friend with whom I share slot in common, topmost of which is our membership of the Old Vandals fraternity, the name by which the alumni of Commonwealth Hall of the University of Ghana are famously known.

Nana is far older than me but the common interests we share have bonded us over the past two decades. Interestingly, where I did my sixth form in the 60s is only 35 km from Agogo, both in the Asante Akyem district. For this and many other reasons I had to join my very good friend in his moment of glory.

Nana was one of the first Ghanaian to be trained locally as a lawyer after earning his LLB degree in 1965, having previously done BA Honours in Econs, Sociology, Law, and Pol. Science I'm 1963. Nana was a royal by all means but he never had the ambition.

He wanted to be a politician. He began his career as an assistant state attorney in 1966 and posted to Cape Coast but resigned after only a year to go into private legal practice with Cape Coast as his base. However, he never forgot his roots and contributed to the socio-economic development of Agogo.

He was a great supporter of his uncle, Nana Kwaku Duah, Chief of Agogo. When his uncle died in 1975 he rushed home to provide for a befitting funeral only to be ambushed by the elders and kingmakers to become the next Chief which he reluctantly accepted on condition that he be allowed to do his politics when Ghana returned to civil rule.

The rest is now history. Nana was elected into Ghana's Parliament in the Third Republic(1979-81) and also served at various times as PNDC Secretary for Health, Interior, and Chieftaincy Affairs between 1982 and 1992.

Nana is the only ruler known by the majority of Agogo citizens and he has been responsible fo the modernization of Agogo making it a tourist centre as well as a leading food-producing area in Ghana. Nana Ayekoo!!!