H. E. Mrs. Amerley Ollennu Awua-Asamoa

Today, I share something about H. E. Mrs. Amerley Ollennu Awua-Asamoa, former Ghana Ambassador to Denmark, with con­current accreditation to the Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

As I wrote a few months ago, there are many personalities and institutions that have contributed to or ensured the smooth running of things for Gha­naian migrants in Finland.

The exploits of such people are laudable and should be acknowl­edged publicly. Many of them have used their knowledge and abilities to help improve the lives of members of the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.

What I write here also reveals some of my own experiences with the former Ambassador at a time when I was the President of the Ghana Union Finland (GUF) from March 2018 to March 2020.

Ambassador Awua-Asamoa presented her official credentials to the Finnish government in April 2018, and her role has had a great impact for the Ghana Union Finland and the entire Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.

During her time, the Ambassador led the Embassy to conduct the first-ever mobile consular services exercise in Helsinki in October 2018. Many people admired the professional, excellent and very helpful service rendered by the efficient Embassy staff.

For the former Ambassador, some of her top priorities included improv­ing customer services at the Embassy. Many people attest to the fact that the complaints about consular services greatly reduced; they also ex­tol the former Ambassador’s friendliness, good works and the opportunities for trade and invest­ment towards Ghana as their home country.

Satisfaction indeed increased and fostered closer interac­tions between the Ghana Em­bassy in Copen­hagen and the Ghanaian community in Finland. (In 2018, the Ghana Embassy in Oslo was established and it assumed accredita­tion to Finland in 2020).

Ghana-Finnish Relations and Diaspo­ra Issues

The former Ambassador always emphasized Ghana’s effort for rapid industrialization and economic growth and development in a sustainable manner especially for future genera­tions. To her, the Ghana Government’s flagship policies such as the ‘One-Dis­trict-One-Factory’ and ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ are highly important for foreign direct investments.

Ambassador Amerley Awua-Asamoa paid working visits to Finland many times, more than any of her predeces­sors. She reinforced the relations with Finland, building on efforts by her predecessors. She always stressed the deepening relations between Ghana and Finland.

She visited many educational insti­tutions and places of higher learning in Finland and engaged in countless dialogues with Finnish institutions for possible cooperation. To her, the government’s policy of diaspora engagement was a good way to utilize the needed investment to drive the industrialisation agenda.

Engagements with the Ghanaian migrants

The former Ambassador kept what she refers to as an open-door policy in her engagements with Ghana­ian migrants in Finland. She visited churches dominated by Ghanaians to first introduce herself, and in her subsequent visits she engaged Ghana­ians in Finland to acquaint herself and get first-hand information about their concerns.

She used such an open-door policy, as she once explained to me in an in­terview, as “a communication strategy normally adopted to win the trust of people, especially those that need one’s services, by opening your door widely to listen to complaints and advice without being selective”.

The Ambassador sees this as very effective when implemented well since it brings great satisfaction once people’s concerns are addressed in a transparent manner. “They feel respected and try to support your efforts, and this is what I believe in and my style of management”, she revealed.

There was good cooperation with the Honorary Consul of Ghana in Fin­land at that time, Ms. Ulla Alanko, as well as the Ghana Union Finland and indeed the entire Ghanaian community in Finland. In both 2018 and 2019, the Ambassador attended Ghana’s Inde­pendence Day anniversary celebration in Helsinki.

The Ambassador always expressed gratitude to the Ghanaian community, which she reiterated in her message at a farewell meeting (held virtually due to Covid-19) with the Ghana Union in late 2020 when her work at the Embassy ended.

Her rich experience and affability

Mrs Amerley Awua-Asamoa has a very rich experience. She was once the Executive Director of the Association of African Women in Development (AAWID), a Ghanaian local non-govern­mental organisation operating at the grassroots level for the socio-economic empowerment of the marginalised.

She earlier worked with the Elec­tricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as a Human Resource Management practitioner where she established a well-deserved reputation for her ability to rise through the ranks in a male-dominated environment to be­come the first female manager in the company.

In addition, she was very vocal in championing for gender mainstreaming and the development and implementa­tion of HIV workplace policy in ECG.

H.E. Amerley Awua-Asamoa en­deared herself to many Ghanaian migrants in Finland with her affable personality. Many people referred to her as “H. E” or “Maa” as a mother to the entire community.

In a nutshell, the work of the former Ambassador and the Embassy in at­tending to people’s needs is cherished by many in the Ghanaian community in Finland. This and her friendliness make her a special woman in the view of many people. Thank you!

PS: Last Monday was the birthday of the Editor, Mr. Emmanuel Amponsah. It also ushered him into his retirement, and I use this opportunity to express my gratitude to him. I appreciatively acknowledge his support to me and the cordial working relationship with him.

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.

By Perpetual Crentsil

Email: perpetualcrentsil@yahoo.com