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Fiator Mordeku III of Awudome Tsito — The bridge builder in chieftaincy and architecture
Fiator Mordeku III of Tsito, known in private life as Kafui Kwame Amegbe, is a unique blend of tradition, service, and modern professionalism.
As a chief, an architect, and a community development advocate, he wears his many hats with humility, driven by a powerful dual motivation: a deep desire to serve and preserve his family’s legacy, and to play an active role in creating positive change in society.
picture with winners of the Energy Commission
High School renewal energy challenge
From a young age, Kafui’s life has been guided by strong values rooted in communal living.
Growing up in a close-knit family and community, he experienced firsthand the power of shared responsibility-where neighbours became second parents, and village elders doubled as life coaches.
Speaking to The Spectator in Accra on Saturday, Fiator Mordeku Ill said one childhood memory that continues to inspire him is when Togbe Gobo Dake XII, Chief of Tsito, bought him a slate for his first day in school.
Today, he serves as Fiator (father to Togbe Gobo Dake XII) to his childhood benefactor-a powerful circle of legacy and service.
“I was enstooled in my late 30s, so this journey is still quite fresh-just under two years in,” he said, by many standards that is considered quite young, especially given the weight and complexity of traditional leadership.
Tsito during his coronation
But I have always believed that leadership is not about how old you are; it is about preparation, mentorship, vision and most importantly, a desire to serve.
According to him, becoming a chief at a young age came with immense responsibility, saying “chieftaincy can be complex and sometimes misunderstood, but my family played a key role in preparing me.”
On the day of his enstoolment, he stood composed, not because it was easy, but because he was aware of the expectations ahead.
The reality, however, only sank in later-when the calls, community issues, and needs began pouring in. For him, leadership is not about titles but about providing proactive and adaptive leadership that reflects the needs of today’s fast-changing society.
Fiator’s reliability with the youth is a defining feature of his reign. “I am not far from the Gen Zs,” he says.
This closeness, according to him, enables him to connect with young people on a peer level, encouraging them to engage in community initiatives and understand the importance of preserving tradition. It is this connection that empowers him to blend traditional authority with modern innovation.
Outside of chieftaincy, Kafui is a passionate architect and advocate of sustainable design.
His love for designing spaces began as early as Junior Secondary School, and today, he continues to inspire with thoughtful architecture that focuses on sustainability, community needs, and the intelligent use of local materials.
To him, architecture is about how people interact with spaces, and one of his proudest contributions is his role in the design of the new Regional House of Chiefs projects across Ghana’s six new regions-a national undertaking that incorporated diverse stakeholder inputs.
His work as an architect and a chief converges in one of his most symbolic projects-a small concrete bridge he built behind his house.
It replaced a dangerous makeshift path used by locals, especially the elderly, to cross a storm drain.
“Now people walk across without fear. That one act of building a bridge, literally and symbolically, pushed me to think more deeply about the many quiet struggles people go through,” he said.
This bridge became the foundation for his greater calling – providing not just charity, but dignity and equity.
Through the Footprints of Glory Foundation, which he founded in 2020 and officially registered in 2021, Kafui has launched impactful initiatives across Tsito and the wider Awudome area.
From funding school fees and apprenticeships to constructing small community bridges and launching an online radio station (soon to become a full community station), the foundation has been a lifeline for many.
It is supported by respected individuals like Dr Yao-Foli Sekyema and Mr Michael Brefo. The foundation’s success lies in collaboration and shared purpose.
A touching example of his impact is the story of a young boy from a neighbouring village who, due to financial hardship, was working on farms despite being a top student. Fiator took him in, supported his education, and
today, the boy is university-bound-a story that encapsulates the spirit of his work.
“I don’t dwell much on legacy,” Fia
tor said. “My focus is on providing real, practical solutions that ease burdens and improve lives.”
Whether it’s mentoring architecture students, building community projects, or planning future academic pursuits.
Currently, he is studying for an MSc in Facilities Management with the aim of uplifting others through service, innovation, and collaboration.
He called on the youth to embrace discipline, humility and a deep willingness to keep learning, urging the youth not to be afraid of hard work or setbacks and that they were part of the journey.
“Find people who inspire you, ask questions, stay curious, and never forget your roots. Where you come from is your foundation, and it will keep you grounded no matter how far you go and we don’t have to wait until we are older to start serving.
He is married with three children and enjoys working out, playing lawn tennis, travelling, listening to music which he says helps him reflect, plan and recharge.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
For Ms Fafa Gozo, being alive is a blessing she no longer takes for granted. Having faced breast cancer and endured the challenges of treatment, she has learnt to appreciate life differently, embrace change and find strength in an experience she once feared would end her life.
“If you ask me how to describe my life today, I would say well, because I am alive,” she said.
Although her life is no longer the same as it was before her diagnosis, she is grateful for the opportunity to live and make the most of each day.
Before breast cancer, Ms Gozo described herself as a happy woman who balanced her responsibilities as a mother, wife and career woman. However, her life changed when she discovered a lump in her breast while breastfeeding her youngest child.
She sought medical attention, and further examinations led to a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. The news was difficult to accept, particularly as she had a young child and family responsibilities to consider.
Chemotherapy began almost immediately. The treatment weakened her body, and she had to return to the hospital for further care.
Beyond medication, she needed emotional strength to cope with the physical and psychological demands of the experience. Nevertheless, she continued with treatment, drawing strength from her faith and determination to live.
May 2022 marked the end of her chemotherapy, bringing relief after months of treatment. In June, she began another phase of her journey, focusing on recovery and rebuilding her life.
Healing was gradual, requiring physical and emotional adjustments. Just when she thought the worst was over, another health concern arose; bringing renewed anxiety and the need for further medical attention.
The experience taught her that recovery does not always follow a straight path. It requires patience, courage and the willingness to face uncertainty.
Despite the difficulties, Ms Gozo has chosen to embrace the woman she has become rather than dwell on what she has lost.
“The old Fafa is gone, but I am loving the new Fafa. I appreciate the new Fafa more and take life easy because now I know life is very short and very vulnerable. Everyone is at risk,” she said. Read More.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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From Doryumu to two Bars: The remarkable journey of Lawyer Nyarkotey Obu
From the quiet communities of Doryumu and Dodowa in the Shai-Osudoku area of Greater Accra to courtrooms in two West African countries, Lawyer Raphael Nyarkotey Obu’s story is one of unusual professional reinvention. 
On Friday, October 9, 2026, the naturopathic scholar was called to the Ghana Bar, following his earlier admission to the Bar in The Gambia in November 2024.
The milestone places him in a pioneering position. He has been reported as the first African naturopath to qualify as a lawyer in two West African countries—an achievement that combines natural medicine, academic leadership and legal training in a way rarely seen on the continent.
Beyond the ceremonial wig and gown, however, lies a larger question: how will he use the law to improve the regulation of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) in Africa?
The early journey
Nyarkotey traces his roots to Doryumu in the Shai-Osudoku district. Part of his childhood was spent with his grandmother in the Suhum-Amrahia area, before his family journey took him to Teshie Lascala, where he began his basic education.
He later attended Ghanata Secondary School, Dodowa. These formative experiences preceded a career that would take him from classrooms in Ghana to professional legal training in Banjul and clinical and academic engagements in Asia.
Those beginnings matter because his achievements did not emerge from a single, straightforward professional path. He first built a name in Ghana’s developing natural medicine sector as an educator, researcher, author and advocate for stronger standards.
Education and difficult questions
That conviction informed the establishment and development of Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine in Ashaiman. The institution pursued structured professional education and competency-based training, including work connected to national occupational standards for naturopathy and holistic medicine.
Yet its growth brought the challenge familiar to emerging health professions: educational ambitions can advance faster than the laws governing those who complete the training.
The College faced questions within Ghana’s tertiary education regulatory environment, while Nyarkotey also became involved in a public dispute with the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC).
At the centre was disagreement over the reach of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act, 2000 (Act 575), and its application to naturopathy and other complementary and alternative medicine disciplines. The dispute entered the courts, where the interpretation of statutory authority remains a matter for legal determination.
Why he studied law
It was against this backdrop that law became increasingly central to his work. After obtaining his law degree, Nyarkotey proceeded to the Gambia Law School and was called to the Gambian Bar in November 2024. He subsequently completed the route to admission in Ghana, culminating in the October 2026 ceremony. The second Bar call gives his professional story an especially Ghanaian significance: the legal questions that shaped his ambitions can now be addressed with the benefit of Ghanaian legal qualification.
The distinction is noteworthy, but he regards it as a means rather than an end. His interest is not simply in representing individual practitioners. He wants to contribute to laws that separate legitimate professional training from unsupported claims, define safe scopes of practice, provide fair disciplinary processes and protect patients. The objective, he argues, should be regulation that is firm, clear and suitable for Africa’s diverse healthcare landscape.
India and a wider horizon
In August 2026, Nyarkotey led 16 Ghanaian naturopaths to India for clinical immersion at Arujiva Ayurveda and Naturopathy Hospital in Karnataka. Their exposure included Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, nutrition and lifestyle-based care.
Subsequent interactions with Indian universities and professional institutions widened the educational exchange. For him, the visit offered a practical view of how training, research, hospitals and public policy can interact within established traditional medicine systems.
India also supplied a lesson in patience. Nyarkotey recalls being told by an Indian colleague that gaining recognition for an educational institution can involve years of persistence. He drew from that conversation a renewed commitment to documentation, programme quality, clinical preparation and continued regulatory engagement. 
QAI partnership and standards
A recent development is the College’s Memorandum of Understanding with India’s Quality and Accreditation Institute (QAI). The partnership is intended to support quality assurance, curriculum improvement and professional development across naturopathy and related complementary medicine disciplines. It marks a shift from pursuing recognition principally through advocacy towards building systems that can be independently assessed.
For Nyarkotey, the agreement offers a platform for developing that quality culture while respecting the jurisdiction of Ghana’s own educational and professional regulators.
An African professional agenda
His thinking has also become continental. In March 2026, representatives associated with naturopathy from 11 African countries established the African Naturopathic Federation, with Nyarkotey as founding president.
The Federation seeks to advance professional education, research, ethics and cooperation. Its potential lies in helping African countries discuss common training benchmarks while allowing each country’s laws, institutions and healthcare needs to shape implementation.
Nyarkotey is additionally promoting an India–Africa AYUSH Centre for Education, Research and Regulatory Cooperation. The proposed platform would connect African institutions and policymakers with Indian expertise, not only in training and clinical exposure but also in standards, research and responsible investment.
He believes African traditional knowledge and India’s institutional experience can form a productive partnership without either being treated as a substitute for scientific scrutiny or patient safety.
A law firm with a specialised mission
Perhaps his most distinctive future plan is a law firm devoted substantially to TCAM and healthcare regulation. He envisages advising governments, professional bodies, colleges, hospitals, clinics and businesses on legislation, registration, licensing, contracts, institutional compliance, patient rights and professional accountability.
He also hopes to assist African countries seeking to draft or modernise legal frameworks for traditional, complementary and alternative medicine.
That ambition follows naturally from his own encounters with overlapping institutions and contested regulatory mandates. More coherent frameworks could clarify which authority regulates practitioners, which oversees academic qualifications and which controls medicinal products.
Such separation would help protect the public while creating lawful pathways for properly trained professionals. Any reform, however, will require consultation with health authorities, patients, conventional medical professionals and complementary medicine stakeholders.
An achievement and a responsibility
Nyarkotey’s story is not free of controversy. His positions on regulation have attracted criticism, and his institution has faced scrutiny. A balanced assessment must recognise those disputes without allowing them to erase the work he has undertaken.
Nor should international partnerships, professorial titles or two Bar calls be mistaken for proof that every proposal is sound. His legacy will depend on the standards he helps establish and the results they produce.
From Doryumu, Dodowa, Suhum-Amrahia and Teshie Lascala to Ghanata Secondary School, Banjul, India and the Ghana Bar, the arc of his journey is striking.
Yet its next chapter may matter more than its earlier honours. If his legal training helps African countries adopt workable TCAM legislation, if his educational partnerships deliver measurable quality, and if his proposed specialist practice contributes to patient protection, the impact will extend far beyond one individual.
The first African naturopath to have qualified as a lawyer in two West African countries now faces a larger professional assignment: turning a remarkable personal achievement into durable legal and educational progress for natural medicine across Africa.
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