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Ghana’s Ambassador to Norway visits Finland and interacts with Ghanaian migrants
Ghana’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway, H. E. Mrs. Jennifer Lartey, paid an official visit to Finland from September 16-18, 2021.
During the visit the Ambassador met officials of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the first time and to discuss key issues about cooperation between Ghana and Finland.
The visit was a way “to come and show my face and an opportunity to meet the officials of the Finnish Foreign Affairs Ministry to consolidate our relations between trade and investment,” Ambassador Lartey said. She again held discussions with some representatives of Finnish companies for possibilities of working visits and ways to open official doors to companies concerning trade and investment interests promotion efforts.
This was the first time the Ghana Embassy in Oslo was visiting Finland. Ghana officially opened its Embassy in Oslo, Norway, in November 2018. The newly-opened Ghana Embassy in Oslo is accredited to Finland and Iceland, which were previously under the Ghana Embassy in Denmark.
Ambassador Lartey was appointed as Ghana’s first Resident Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway in February 2019 by the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The COVID-19 situation and lockdowns meant that the Ambassador could not visit Finland earlier. She was happy for this opportunity to be in Finland.
The four-day visit also offered her the opportunity to meet Ghanaian migrants in Helsinki to interact with them, and those who had travelled from other places in Finland.
The encounter was arranged last Saturday in the manner of a town-hall meeting with some representatives of the Ghanaian community including a discussion session. The meeting was on Zoom to enable others participate from their homes.
Ambassador Lartey praised the Ghanaian migrant community for the apparent unity and harmony among them and urged them to continue to keep a peaceful nature. Members of the community were happy to interact directly with the Ambassador and to ask her questions such as the passport renewals, how to find the right information from the Embassy or its website, etc.
She assured the community that the Embassy was there at their service and they would organise more Mobile Consular Services when needed to help many people secure the new biometric passports in place of the machine-readable passports which would be phased out.
Also with the Ambassador on the trip to Finland were Mr. Charles Kwakye-Marfo (Minister-Counsellor & Head of Chancery), Mr. Arthur Nii Odartey Okoe Mills (Counsellor, Political & Economic), Nana Antwi Baffuor (First Secretary Consular), and Mrs. Abigail Adusei (Second Secretary, Administration).
The group was composed of a Mobile Consular Team which conducted the first-ever mobile consular services by the Embassy this year in Helsinki over six days starting from Tuesday, 14 September until Sunday, 19 September 2021.
The team was under a huge pressure to serve the over 300 applications for the biometric passports. The huge number of applications can largely be attributed to the COVID-19 situation with its attendant problems such as the lockdowns which prevented people whose passports had expired as well as babies who had been born around this period from travelling or initiating the process to secure new passports.
The applications were almost six times the number of submissions made when the Ghana Embassy in Denmark conducted a similar mobile consular service in Finland in late 2018.
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.
The writer is a lecturer at the
University of Helsinki, Finland
Indeed, numerous Ghanaians across the regions, all over Africa, and even people from other parts of the world were struck with sadness and grief upon hearing the sudden passing of the former First Lady of Ghana, Her Excellency Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, which occurred on the black day of Thursday, October 23, 2025.
Very often, it is difficult to believe the death of very high-profile persons in our communities, country, and even across the world, as recently witnessed in the passing of this indefatigable leader.
Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings was the better half of the indomitable former President of Ghana, His Excellency, the late Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, who ruled Ghana for a record period of 18 years.
His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings, alongside his able men like Osahene Boakye Gyan, Akatapore, and other young army officers, shook the political foundations of this country for a brief period from June 4 to the end of September 1979. Following the general election, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings handed over power to the late President, His Excellency Dr. Hilla Limann of the People’s National Convention (PNC), in a colorful national ceremony amidst pomp and pageantry.
Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and other colleagues in the Ghana Armed Forces, dissatisfied with the PNC Government’s administration—which was considered volatile at the time—staged another coup to topple the Limann Administration on December 31, 1981. After a successful dispensation, he reassumed the position of Head of State under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), remaining in power until 2000 when, following the general election, he handed over power from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to former President His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
It is noteworthy that from the June 4 period of 1979, stretching up to the 2000 general election, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings was very vocal in Ghana’s political administration.
Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings not only actively supported her husband to realize his political ambitions but also made a lasting impact across Ghana by tirelessly advocating for women’s emancipation in social, economic, and political spheres.
Consider her dynamic role in the formation of the 31st December Women’s Group. She established various food processing industries in multiple towns and villages to empower women economically.
There were countless other initiatives through which she encouraged and benefited not only women but also numerous families, enabling them to lead meaningful lives. For instance, the family home of Nene Kofi Opey-Fiagbor in Adjikpo-Amlakpo, Somanya, was highly privileged to welcome Her Excellency Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings anytime she visited.
On a Saturday in early January 1983, she visited to seek the hand of one of our beautiful sisters, Lucy Kpodjie, for Alex Dautey, who was then one of her husband’s military guards at the Castle in Osu-Accra. How can we, as a family, ever forget such a diligent, graceful, and distinguished person like her in our memories?
Your Excellency, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, your loss is deeply felt and irreplaceable for Mother Ghana. We all join the Rawlings immediate family in Accra, the people of Asanteman, the Keta people of her late husband, and the National Democratic Congress, which she helped found, alongside the President and Government of Ghana, to mourn this loss.
To a highly beloved and illustrious daughter of Ghana: may Mother Earth lie lightly upon your body as your precious soul rests in perfect peace in the bosom of the Good Lord, until the resurrection day when we shall all meet again. Fare thee well!
DAMIRIFA DUE! DUENI AMANEHUNU!
By J. K. Tetteh Kpodjie
Concerned Citizen
Somanya
0557672086
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Sometime ago, money-doubling used to be a very lucrative trade for people who had the skill. But it all depended on the availability of street-lights, which were used as accessories in the money-doubling schemes. The more street-lights that were available, the more likely it was that money would be doubled.
Money has indeed been doubled for people—civil servants, pastors, journalists, and diplomats. People suspected of being naive and carrying cash were conned into believing their money could be doubled without chanting. All they had to do was place their money under a ‘sacred’ stone, then walk in a certain direction, counting ten street-lights in the process without looking back.
“If you look back, you’ll go mad, wallahi!” they were warned, to ensure obedience. After counting the ten street-lights, participants were told to return and collect their doubled money under the ‘divine’ stone with jubilation. And for a moment, it seemed real—the cash appeared doubled. The problem, of course, was that the entire sum was nothing but newspaper cut to fit the currency size. At first, victims would be amazed, thinking they were hallucinating, only to frantically realize the trick. Meanwhile, the money-doublers would vanish miles away with the real cash.
In this era, money-doubling schemes often occur around payday, when people have just received their salaries. Those with ¢80,000 in hand could be tempted with the promise of returning home with ¢160,000. But in reality, many end up empty-handed, learning the harsh lesson of the financial culture of today.
Not long ago, Edward Alomele, who claims he is “Original Alor,” collected his pay and walked leisurely home, planning to celebrate. A wayside lottery operator noticed his bulging back pocket and thought he could easily trick him into handing over the money. But Alor was no amateur when it came to finance.
The lottery man pointed to a display of consumer items—televisions, sound systems, cookers, water heaters—and explained the game. Alor tried a sample ticket and “won” a colour television instantly. However, since he hadn’t staked money, he was told he needed to hand over his pay to claim the prize. Alor, sensing the scam, studied the man’s reaction carefully.
He deliberately wore mismatched footwear—one red canvas shoe and one green—to signal that he was not an easy target. The lottery operator realized his mistake, apologized, and acknowledged that Alor was not a naive newcomer.
Despite widespread reporting on these scams, hundreds of people fall victim every week, losing a significant portion of their salaries. Many prefer to remain silent, ashamed of having been deceived. Some notable individuals, like Devine Ankamah, have managed to dodge these traps through vigilance and experience, but the majority remain vulnerable.
Even pastors and other respected members of society have been duped by money-doublers, proving that awareness alone is often not enough. As Merari Alomele notes, “When shall we ever learn?”
This article was first published on Saturday, August 5, 1995.
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