Features
On Ambassador Amerley Ollennu Awua-Asamoa – A Special Woman
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
Walk into any supermarket in Accra, Kumasi, or Tamale today, and you will see the modern Ghanaian diet packaged as ‘progress.’ You will see breakfast cereals with cartoon mascots, fruit drinks that are mostly sugar and colour, and snacks promising energy and happiness in bright fonts.
Even products loaded with salt and unhealthy fats often wear a health halo labeled as fortified or natural, while the real nutritional risk is hidden in tiny print on the back. This is not just a consumer inconvenience; it is a public health blind spot. Ghana is living through a silent surge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension, diabetes, and stroke.
These conditions quietly drain household income and steal productive years. According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, NCDs are now responsible for nearly 45 per cent of all deaths in Ghana.
We cannot build a healthy nation on a food environment designed to confuse people at the point of purchase. Ghana must mandate simple front-of-pack warning labels (FOPWL) on high-sugar, high-salt, and high-fat packaged foods because consumers deserve truth at a glance, and industry must be pushed to reformulate.
Why Back-of-Pack Labels Are Not Enough
In theory, consumers can read nutrition panels. In reality, most Ghanaians shop under pressure, limited time, rising prices, and children tugging at their sleeves. The back label is a relic that requires a high cognitive load to interpret—essentially, the seller knows what is inside, but the buyer cannot easily tell.
This ‘information asymmetry’ is not fair. It is not consumer choice when the information needed to choose well is deliberately difficult to find.
Simple warning labels like the black octagons used in the Chilean Model act as a ‘stop-and-think’ nudge. They do not ban products but they simply tell the truth so people can decide.
Reshaping Our Food Environment
A generation ago, Ghana’s meals were mostly home-prepared, like kenkey and banku with soups and stews. Today, ultra-processed foods have become the norm, especially in urban areas. Children are growing up with sugary drinks and salty snacks as everyday items, not occasional treats.
If Ghana is serious about prevention, we must act where decisions are made—thus, the shelf. Warning labels protect parents from sugar traps and pressure the market to improve. When warning labels are mandatory, manufacturers start to compete to make healthier recipes to avoid the stigma of the label.
Addressing the Pushback
Industry will argue that labels create fear or that education alone is enough. However, health education is slow; labels work immediately. While the informal street food sector is a challenge, regulating pre-packaged goods is the practical starting point because the supply chain is traceable. We cannot wait until the whole system is perfect; we must start where action is feasible.
A 2026 Implementation Roadmap for Ghana
To move from talk to action, Ghana needs this 5-step plan:
- Issue mandatory regulation: The Ministry of Health, Food and Drug Authority (FDA), and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) must define the label format and nutrient thresholds for all pre-packaged foods.
- Simple, bold symbols: Use plain language and clear symbols, such as “HIGH IN SUGAR,” designed for busy families, not experts.
- Transparent thresholds: Adopt technically defensible standards adapted to the Ghanaian diet.
- Transition and enforce: Provide a 12–18 month period for manufacturers to reformulate, followed by firm enforcement at ports and retail centers.
- National literacy campaign: The Ghana Health Service must pair labels with public messages explaining why high salt or sugar increases disease risk.
Conclusion: Truth Is Not a Luxury
Prevention is cheaper than treatment. A warning label costs little compared to the price of dialysis, stroke rehabilitation, or lifelong diabetes complications. A black octagon on a box of biscuits is more than a label; it is a shield for the health of all Ghanaians. It is time to put the truth where we can see it, right on the front.
By Abigail Amoah Sarfo
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Natives of the Kenkey Kingdom were mad with joy. They were still recovering from the hangover of the kingdom’s loss of the African Cup when their spirits were rekindled. Their great warrior, Zoom Zoom, stormed Melbourne and made sure that every Australian refused food. And that was after he had drawn contour lines on the face of their idol, Jeff Fenech.
Not only did the terrible warrior transform Old Boy Jeff’s face into a contour map useful for geography lessons, but he also accomplished the feat of retaining the much-envied super-kenkeyweight title against all odds. The warrior had not been eating hot kenkey for nothing.
The Fight Against Fenech
When Jeff Fenech bit the dust in the eighth round, I was tempted to consider if Adanko Deka could not have faced him in any twelve-rounder, title or non-title bout. Adanko has improved tremendously, and soon he would be facing Pernell Whitaker.
Sincerely, I was pessimistic about Azumah’s man, who the last time took him through twelve grueling rounds of rough boxing. I expressed my fears to my colleague Christian Abbew, alias Gbonyo, who surprisingly had total confidence that the Australian brawler would fall, predictably in Round Five.
Gbonyo gave reasons for his contention, all of which I counteracted using the age factor. Fact is, I didn’t know that contrary to the laws of nature, Azumah was all the time growing younger.
When Fenech fell briefly in round one, I asked my brother whether it was the same Fenech that fought Azumah in Las Vegas. Sure, it was the same Fenech, all out to beat Azumah before his countrymen.
But the African Professor had no intention of making the Australian a hero. As he spun round the desperate Aussie, dancing and stinging out his jabs, it was not too long before I realized that the end was near.
The Eighth Round Showdown
Two minutes into the eighth round, the African ring-master proved to the whole world that he was a true son of Bukom. He himself was cornered, but like the tough nut he is, he managed to break free before overwhelming the panting Australian with several blows that made him crash headlong.
Moments after, the referee, expressing fatherly sympathy, stopped the fight to prevent an obituary. After the ordeal, Fenech’s fairly handsome face was full of newly constructed hills, valleys, ox-bow lakes—whatever. I noticed that his nose was very tired and had a miniature volcano sitting restlessly on it. Obviously, Jeff’s wife will have to nurse that nose back to its normal shape—but I’d advise her not to use iodine, otherwise her dear husband will wail like a banshee.
Reflections on Boxing
Because Mohammed Ali was the kind of boxer kids liked, many school-going kids often entertained the wish of becoming like him. I remember one day when I told my father I wanted to become a boxer, and he advised me to first complete my education to the highest level. Then, if I decided to become a boxer and was knocked out a couple of times, I’d fall back on my degrees and make a living.
Boxing used to be interesting when bouts were fought more with the mouth and tongue than with gloves. You had to brag well, psychologically belittling your opponent before beating him up physically. Mohammed Ali became a very successful pugilist because he also managed to become a poet. He often blew his horn across America, calling himself the “pretty boxer” and opponents like Joe Frazier “the gorilla.”
Ali made a living fighting hard fists like Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, and Trevor Berbick. Twice he came back from retirement to fight just for money. It was Larry Holmes who finally pensioned him, and since then the great Ali has never been himself.
The Path Ahead for Azumah
When Azumah nailed Jeff Fenech on the cross and barked almost immediately that he was after the head of Pernell Whitaker, I was happy but concerned. I would have been happier if he had announced his resignation there and then—he would have been more of a hero. Beating Fenech in Australia is more newsworthy than facing Whitaker in the States.
With Whitaker, it might be a little difficult. The “Sweet Pea” is agile, has a crooked body like a snake with diarrhea, and stands awkwardly as a southpaw. He is known for having the fastest pair of fists and the rare ability to dodge punches no matter how close they may be.
Much as I do not doubt that Azumah can take his title, I also don’t want him to retire beaten. I want him to retire as a hero and live a fuller, healthy life.
As Azumah himself said after dishing Fenech, he is now a professor and has something to show for it. Like a true professor, I think it is time he resigned and took up training young talents who could draw inspiration from him and become like him in the future.
Closing Thoughts
I must say that although ageing boxers like Larry Holmes and George Foreman are making a name for themselves, boxing is not like the Civil Service, where you can even change your age and retire at 74. Zoom Zoom has delighted the hearts of the natives, and Sikaman will forever hold him in high esteem—but only when he retires as a hero.
This article was first published on Saturday, March 7, 1992.
