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The three day programme, including a memorial lecture and book launch under the chairmanship of Nene Sakite II, Konor of Manya Krobo is to provide a platform for a reflection on the life and achievements of his predecessor, the legendary Krobo King whose fifty (50) year of glorious reign ended in March 1990 following his demise.
The celebration which is hinged on the theme, “25 years of the end of a remarkable life and the end of an era- lessons, inspirations and challenges of a state”, will take off with a memorial/public lecture to be delivered by Professor Samuel Tetteh Addo of the University of Ghana who is also a son of the land and a close associate of the late King. The lecture is on the topic, “Oklemekuku Azzu Mate Kole; A Great King and Statesman”, and is slated for Thursday November 19, 2015 at the GNAT (Teachers’) hall in Accra at 2:30 pm.
As part of activities for the day, a 144 paged memoir which comes to augment existing literature on the late King titled, “The Eagle of Manya Krobo” by Dr. Peter K. Obeng-Asamoa, Executive Director of the Ghana Blinds Union, will also be launched by Hon. Dzifa Gomashie, Deputy Minister for Tourism and Creative Arts.
On Friday November 20, 2015, the Odumase-Korbo township will go live with colourful traditional activities including a cultural/literary evening at the forecourt of the Konor’s palace at Odumase, featuring performances (drumming and dancing) from different cultural troupes/ensembles that would showcase traditional music and dance, including klama, gbekor, agbai and oglojo. Other activities in the lineup include testimonials, sketches, choral music and poetry recital.
The celebration climaxes on Sunday November 22, 2015 with a thanksgiving service at the Zimmermann Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Odumase-Krobo.
In
an interview, Dr. Obeng-Asamoah said “Oklemekuku stood out as a King and
statesman in his time and left huge legacies both for his native Krobo and the
nation at large which should not go properly documented- that exactly is what I
have done in this new book which will serve as a reference material on that
legend and visionary leader”.
The man Oklemekuku Azzu Mate Kole
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| Young Mate Kole |
The
late Oklemekuku was enstooled Konor of Manya Krobo on June 22, 1939 at a
relatively young age of 29 years while serving as an officer of the Gold Coast
Police Force, stationed at Mampong Akwapim.
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| Front and left view of the Palace where Oklemekuku lived which still stands in the centre of the Manya Krobo State |
At the time of his capture and subsequent enthronement, Nene was already relishing a promising career in the service, spotting an impressive rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), having graduated from the Police College at a record rank of a Corporal three years before his “capture”- a rare phenomenon in his days.
Footprints in the Manya Krobo state
The political
and cultural head of his people that he was, (and as was the set up in the
colonial era), young and progress-minded Nene Azzu Mate Kole, armed with formal
education, foresight and administrative acumen, rallied his people to speed up
the socio-economic development of the area through self-help which culminated
in the re-organisation of the state administrative machinery and the
establishment of a stool treasury that soon reflected in a sharp rise in
revenue for the work at hand. It was through this that the state was able to
run its own transport services and dug over 25 wells at vantage locations to
save what would have been a difficult situation during an acute water shortage
in 1947.
As the overlord of Manya Krobo which was to become a notable agricultural centre, Nene would not watch access roads terminate at the sprawling market centers like Asesewa, Sekesua and Ehiamekyene but ensured the construction of bridges on the major rivers and link roads to the farming and production centres such as Sisiamang, Akateng, Osonson, Sutapong, Akotue, Abuachau etc., networking the entire areas in a fashion that was soon to put Manya on the rail to speedy development and to the status as a major food basket for the nation.
As if to further showcase the immediate result of these communal and self-supporting activities, Nene and his people together with the District Commissioner of Akuse, Mr. James Moxon organized an Agricultural Show at Odumase-Krobo in 1947 which proved to be the largest and most successful provincial show of the time, attracting not only the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Allan Burns, but merchants, manufacturers as well as indigenous and foreign farmers of repute.
Through his instrumentality, and as a way of atualising the recommendations of the Government’s Central Advisory Committee on Education of which he was a member, what became known as the Akro State Schools were established, the first of which was sited at Odumase and followed with fifteen others, spread across the Krobo villages.
Contribution to national development
Throughout
his life, he contributed not only to the development of his native people but
to national development, serving as a member of the Legislative Council (later
Parliament) under the provisions in the Electoral College which gave
representation to the Provincial Council of Chiefs until 1954.
He stood distinguished in his era, earning him membership of various important national committees including the Blackhall Committee on Native Courts; the West African Institute of Science and Industry (1942-1945); Council of the University College of Ghana (1958-1960); the Wartime Economic Committee of the Gold Coast and also as a member of the management board of the West African Cocoa Research Institute. Others include, President of the Eastern Provincial Council of Chiefs (1947); Chairman, National Advisory Committee (1968); Deputy Speaker, Constituent Assembly, (1969); and Member, Coussey Committee on Constitutional Reforms.
Another of his great services to the nation was his close association with the concept, planning and execution of the Volta Dam at Akosombo popularly referred to as the Volta River Project. So significant was his contribution in driving the project to fruition, that he was appointed as the first chief to the first Board of Trustees of the Volta River Authority under the chairmanship of the late Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He served on the board for ten (10) years.
Nene is also on record to have played a leading role in the establishment of the Ghana Cocoa Board as one of his varied contributions to national development which culminated in his many awards and recognitions such as the Kings’ Medal for Chiefs (KMC) in 1942; Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1948; Order of the Volta (OV) in 1969 which was crowned by the award of degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by the University of Ghana.
Nene died on March 15, 1990 shortly after celebrating the Golden Jubilee of his enstoolment (1939-1989), during which the Manya Krobo state conferred on him the highest traditional title of the land Oklemekuku, literally meaning “a great leader and an ancient fellow”.
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| The Manya Krobo Palace as taken from behind |
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