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Nkonya descendants coming home from Diaspora
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From the ancestral hills of Nkonya, a global call to remembrance is rising.
This October, the quiet village of Kromo (now Tepo) will become the epicenter of a transcontinental memorial as Ghana and the United States jointly launch African Holocaust Month-a solemn tribute to the millions of African lives lost to the transatlantic slave trade.
Held annually on the second Saturday of October, the ceremony this time will unfold simultaneously in Kromo, Ghana, and Kentucky, USA, with commemorative benches placed facing each other across the Atlantic.
At exactly 4pm Ghana time, libations will be poured, wreaths laid, and names of the departed read aloud—restoring dignity to those whose stories were silenced by history.
But this is more than ritual. It is prophecy fulfilled. Kromo, once a thriving community along the slave route from Salaga, bears the scars of betrayal.
Oral history recounts a tragic moment when slave traders raided the village during a hunting absence, capturing youth aged 16 to 20—including a revered Queen mother and her attendants.
The grief-stricken community relocated, giving birth to present-day Tepo.
For generations, the people of Nkonya prayed that the Queen mother’s descendants would return—not just in body, but in royalty.
That prayer was answered in 2007, when Ur Aua Hehimetu Ra Enkamit, Paramount King of the Ausar Auset Society in Washington, D.C, USA, returned to Nkonya following a DNA test.
He was formerly known as Dr Lee Cook Jr.
A direct descendant of David Cook (e) of Kentucky, his lineage traces back through five generations to Edmon Cooke, whose roots are believed to pass through Kromo.
“This is not just a memorial— it’s a restoration of ancestral ties,” said Ur Aua Enkamit in a chat with The Spectator.
“Kromo is both literal and symbolic. Even if your ancestors didn’t pass through here, it represents every nameless place Africans were captured and marched toward the coast,” he emphasised.
The initiative invites all people of African descent—whether from Ghana, Jamaica, the U.S., or beyond—to participate.
He encouraged families to identify ancestral land for bench placement, submit names of deceased relatives for the reading, coordinate with diaspora kin for simultaneous ceremonies, and arrive in Nkonya before the event.
Benches, he stressed, would be provided in Kromo, with wreaths available upon request. Once placed, families need only return each year with names and offerings.
African Holocaust Month draws inspiration from Ida B. Wells, the pioneering journalist who in 1909 used the term “holocaust” to describe atrocities against African people—decades before its association with World War II.
This October, her words echo across oceans, as descendants reclaim memory, identity, and sacred ground.
From Kingsley E. Hope Kumasi
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Ghana Post on Tuesday launched the ‘Skool Box’ initiative, one aimed at supporting education and delivery services to students in Accra.
The initiative forms part of Ghana Post’s broader transformation agenda to diversify its services and provide innovative solutions to everyday challenges faced by Ghanaians.
Launching the initiative, the Managing Director of the company, Mrs Rita Sraha, said the idea was inspired by the practical difficulties students and parents often faced in transporting school items, particularly at the beginning of the academic term.
According to her, the increasing space constraints in schools also makes it difficult for students to carry large quantities of belongings with them, creating the need for parents to find alternative ways of sending additional items to their children.
Mrs Sraha said the initiative aligns with the broader national agenda of using digital technology and innovation to expand opportunities, improve public services and strengthen Ghana’s economic capabilities.
The Managing Director however, stressed that the success of the initiative would depend on Ghana Post’s willingness to listen to users, learn from experience and continuously improve the service.
Mrs Sraha explained that Ghana Post was gradually expanding beyond its traditional postal operations through partnerships and services in areas including last-mile delivery, agency banking, logistics and insurance.
She said the School Box Service was another example of how the organisation was using its institutional capabilities to develop solutions to practical challenges within communities.
The Acting Chief Commercial Officer of Ghana Post, Mr Benard Yaw Atta-Sonno, said the service was designed to provide convenient and reliable delivery of school-related items while creating new business opportunities within the education sector.
According to him, the company was also strengthening its focus on digitalisation, customer experience, strategic partnerships and data-driven commercial decision-making.
“Our objective is clear: to build multiple sustainable revenue streams around the assets and capabilities that Ghana Post already possesses, while developing new capabilities for emerging markets,” he said.
He explained that, in the short term, the initiatives were expected to increase transaction volumes, improve the digitalisation of the company’s network, attract new customer segments and generate additional revenue from services that complemented its traditional postal operations.
He noted that the School Box, in particular, provided an opportunity for Ghana Post to develop recurring business around the annual school cycle, while creating opportunities to cross-sell other logistics and delivery services.
The launch forms part of Ghana Post’s wider efforts to modernise its operations and position the company as a diversified logistics and service provider beyond its traditional postal business.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
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The Ghana Education Service (GES) has asked heads of schools not to turn away newly admitted students or refuse to accommodate them over metal trunks or wooden chop boxes.
“These practices may impose unnecessary financial burdens on parents and guardians who may be unable to afford alternative storage containers prescribed by individual schools,” the GES said in a statement.
“All students admitted to boarding accommodation should be treated fairly and accommodated without discrimination based on their economic circumstances or ability of their parents or guardians to purchase a particular brand or type of personal effects.”
The statement, signed by Professor Mrs Smile Dzisi, the Deputy GES Director-General, comes after Management of the Service received reports that some senior high schools and senior high technical schools (SHS/SHTS) were turning newly admitted students or refusing to accommodate them because they brought metal trunks, wooden chop boxes or other personal storage containers to school.
Consequently, the GES has asked regional directors to inform all heads to desist from turning away or refusing admissions to duly admitted students solely on the basis of the type of trunk, chop box, or personal storage container they bought to school.
Provided the item was reasonably sized, safe and did not pose risk to the health, safety or welfare of other students, those students must not be refused accommodation, it added.
The statement said: “Any reported case of a duly admitted student being denied accommodation or turned away solely because of the type of trunk, chop box or personal storage container brought to school should be investigated and same reported to management.”
“Any head of SHS/SHSTS who flouts this directive shall be dealt with in accordance with the applicable standards, regulation and laws of the service.” –GNA
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