Features
Ulla Alanko’s special love for Ghana and Ghanaian community in Finland
UUlla (left), with the then Ghana’s Ambassador to Denmark, H. E. Amerley Ollennu Awua-Asamoa. Picture by Kwame Afreh
Today, I share with readers something interesting about Ms. Ulla Alanko, the former Honorary Consul of Ghana in Helsinki. Ms. Alanko is currently retired and is thus an Honorary Consul Emerita.
What I share here is largely about the love this great Finnish woman has for Ghana and the immense support she has been giving in diverse ways to Ghanaian migrants in Finland.
Most Ghanaian migrants here look to her as a mother figure and affectionately refer to her simply as Ulla.
Honorary Consul
The official appointment of Ms. Ulla Alanko as the Honorary Consul was signed on December 29, 2006, by the then Foreign Minister, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is currently the President of Ghana. Her work as Honorary Consul formally started in 2007.
Before then, Ulla had been working closely with the then Consul General, Mr. DaudaToure, as Ulla explained to me in a communication in early 2020, just before my term ended as the President of the Ghana Union of Finland.
When Mr. DaudaToure unexpectedly died in 2002, the task thus fell on Ms. Alanko to step in and help serve Ghanaians in Finland. She followed in the late Toure’s footsteps to develop cooperation between Ghana and Finland.
The job also included working closely with Ghana’s Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, at that time (in 2018, Finland came under the Ghana Embassy in Oslo, Norway). There are also levels of cooperation between different universities in Finland and those in Ghana, business and investment possibilities, as well as visits to Ghana by staff from Ministries in Finland and from Ghana to Finland.
Ulla has worked in many institutions, for example, the University Hospital in Helsinki (Administration). Her last work experience was at the City of Helsinki Administration, where she was the Senior Planning Officer from 1989 until 2014, when she retired.
Her visits to Ghana
Ulla first visited Ghana in 1995 and, from then on, engaged in many activities in Ghana for about a year.
She saw the cooperation with the Accra City administration and the Trades Union Congress, something that had been on the Honorary Consul’s agenda since the year 1995.
The Ghana Consulate started cooperation with the Ghana Trade Union Congress, where it worked closely with the General Secretary, Mr. Christian Appiah-Agyei, and also with Mr. Kwasi Adu Amankwah, Mr. Kofi Asamoah and Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah.
Cooperation projects
In 2002, 2003, and 2005, the Honorary Con sulate started cooperation projects with the Trade Union Congress in Ghana. The projects were in cooperation with the Trade Union Solidarity Centre in Finland, for example, on repairing and consulting with the Ghana Trade Union Congress and others. A Finnish group of experts also worked together with their Ghanaian counterparts in the Ghana Trade Union Congress. The Finnish group was made up of 20 members of the Trade Union who had different working experiences from various parts of Finland.
The programmes focused on education, safety at work, working conditions, women in working life, etc. The cooperation programmes between Ghana and Finland have continued over the years.
The cooperation was successful, and on June 1, 2010, the Trade Union Solidarity Centre in Finland opened its office in Accra, the second in Africa. Unfortunately, the office is now temporarily closed.
In 2008, the then President of Finland, Mrs. Tarja Halonen, was one of the main speakers at the four-day UNCTAD- Congress in Accra, which Ms. Alanko attended too, from April 20–23. Later, Ulla, as the Honorary Consul of Ghana in Helsinki, arranged a visit to the Ghana Trades Union Congress on behalf of President Halonen to fulfill her wish to strengthen cooperation between Finland and Ghana.
President Halonen had been working as a lawyer in the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions before she became the first female P resident in Finland, from 2000 to 2012. The meeting in Accra gave hope about the possibility of strengthening the relationship between Ghana and Finland, as well as between the Trade Unions of both countries.
The Honorary Consul position is also a nominated member of the Consul Corps Board in Finland, from the 196 foreign consulates in Finland.
Retirement and Honour
Ulla retired from active work as an Honorary Consul in early 2020. In a speech at a send-off event for her, Ulla thanked the Ghana State, the Ghana Embassy in Copenhagen and the Ghanaian community in Finland for the “valuable possibility to work for the Ghana State and for their people in both countries”.
At the time, there were over 1,700 Ghanaians living in Finland. Ulla served the many people who approached her to help solve their immigration and other problems. “The work with Ghanaians and with Ghana Union Finland has always been very close and intense,” Ulla often said.
In 2018, the Ghana Union Finland honoured Ulla in recognition of her work. A citation presented to her read thus: “For so many years now, you have been of immense help to Ghanaian immigrants in Finland. Your friendship and great love for Ghana and Ghanaian immigrants in Finland are obvious for all to see.
“We acknowledge your selflessness, passion and dedication to the Union, and feel privileged to be associated with you. The Ghana Union Finland cherishes your zeal and enthusiasm to help and actively participate in activities involving the Ghanaian immigrant community in Finland. Your strong support for a solid Ghana-Finland relationship is a shining example for us all. Thank you”.
By Perpetual Crentsil
[The writer lectures at the
University of Helsinki in Finland]
Email: perpetualcrentsil@yahoo.com
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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