A focus on  Mr Edmund  Armar

Happy New Year to you all! Today, I am back with my narra­tion of personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland with a focus on Mr Edmund Armar.

Mr Armar, affectionate­ly called ‘Eddie’ by his peers, is a well-respect­ed senior member of the Ghanaian community in Finland.

He moved to Finland in the early 1990s. He has lived in other places in Finland but now lives in Vantaa, a part of the greater Helsinki region.

Accomplishments and honours

It is important to re­count accomplishments as part of the success sto­ries of the personalities of Ghanaian descent in Finland to highlight their exploits both within the Ghanaian migrant com­munity and in the wider Finnish society.

Mr Armar has been an active member of the Ghana Union Finland, which is a non-govern­mental organisation for the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland. He is always present at events organised by the Union and contributes to the various activities at such events.

Mr Armar has other ac­complishments. He is the proud father of an adult (18 year-old) son.

Other unique charac­teristics

Mr Armar is a Ga from Accra. It may interest you to know that Mr Armar’s maternal lineage is traced from the royal family of the Ga Mantse. His late mother is a direct descen­dant of King Tackie Tawiah III.

On his paternal side, Mr Armar’s late grandfather was an astute and prom­inent businessman who also lived and was well-known in Calabar, Nige­ria. Mr Armar also comes from a well-known family of educated elites. One of his uncles was a well-known mathematician who co-authored maths books used for schools in Ghana, approved by Gha­na’s education services in the 1970s and 1980s as mathematics textbooks in schools.

Recently, I got to know that Mr Armar was a school mate of former Vice President, Dr Alha­ji Mahamudu Bawumia, whom he affectionately called Mahamudu.

They both attended Sakasaka Primary School, where Mrs Benefo served as the headmistress.

Working life in Finland

Mr Edmund Armar has worked in var­ious companies in Finland. He currently works with the Post group, Finland Posti, where he has been for many years now.

He has risen to a high rank at his workplace and has helped others to find jobs at that place and others else­where.

His role in the Ghanaian commu­nity

As I have men­tioned already, Mr Edmund Armar has been very active in the Ghanaian com­munity. He is still very active in the Ghana Union Finland and other smaller Ghanaian associations.

Apart from being an active member of the Ghana Union Finland, Mr Armar was once an execu­tive member of the Brong Ahafo Association.

He has been a counsel­lor and mentor who has guided many young Gha­naian migrants on their career paths and has also been part of helping them to settle in Finland.

Mr Armar lives in Hel­sinki with his teenage son, after the demise of his wife about nine years ago.

Dear readers, once again, a very happy new year to you all. Expect more of such interest­ing stories about people of Ghanaian descent in Finland, about Ghana immigrant groups/associ­ations and their accom­plishments in the Finnish society in my subsequent narrations. Thank you!

GHANA MATTERS col­umn appears fortnightly. Written in simple, lay­man’s terms, it concen­trates on matters about Ghana and beyond. It focuses on everyday life issues relating to the social, cultural, econom­ic, religious, political, health, sports, youth, gender, etc. It strives to remind us all that Ghana comes first. The col­umn also takes a candid look at the meanings and repercussions of our actions, especially those things we take for grant­ed or even ignore. There are key Ghanaian values we should uphold rath­er than disregard with impunity. We should not overlook the obvious. We need to search for the hidden or deeply em­bedded values and try to project them.

perpetual.crentsil@ yahoo.com

By Perpetual Crentsil