President Akufo-Addo in a photograph with members of GUBA Awards at the Jubilee House
President Akufo-Addo has commended the decision of organisers of Grow, Unite, Build, Africa (GUBA) Awards to centre the theme of this year’s event on the legendary Queen mother of Ejisu, Yaa Asantewaa.
The late powerful Queen mother is touted to have influenced and led the Ashanti war known as the Yaa Asantewaa War against British colonialism around 1900.
With 2021 being the centenary celebration of the passage of the Queen, GUBA has decided to celebrate her achievements, something President Akufo-Addo described as extremely appropriate.
This was when the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GUBA Enterprises, Dentaa Amoateng, a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House on Monday.
President Akufo-Addo said the theme “Celebrating a Symbol of Courage and Resilience” spoke highly of the late Ejisu Queen mother, saying “this is one of the most famous women of Ghanaian history. Her role and resistance of British rule is legendary. She died a long way from here and it is very appropriate that in this her centenary year, she is being honoured.”
This year’s GUBA Awards, which was held in Accra on Monday, brought together several prominent personalities in Ghana and from the diaspora including the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo.
This was the first time it was being hosted in Ghana since its inception in 2009.
The plethora of dignitaries and personalities who graced the event included Rt. Hon Diane Abbott, British MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and Shadow Home Secretary, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, British MP for Streatham, among others.
GUBA Awards is a non-profit organisation that focuses on enriching the African community in the diaspora and in Africa with the aim of empowerment and growth.
It is an event dedicated to highlighting and rewarding outstanding achievers. As one of the most professionally executed and entertaining events, the GUBA Awards ceremony attracts a high caliber of African political luminaries as well as business and entrepreneurial personalities. In 2012, the GUBA Foundation was set up to tackle a broad spectrum of issues affecting Ghanaian and African communities
GUBA has been acknowledged and endorsed for its role in recognising Ghanaian achievements in the UK, as well as promoting the national interest of Ghana and the African community, by dignitaries and organisations including President of the Republic of Ghana – HE Nana Akufo-Addo.
Other endorsements have come from the Ghana High Commission to the UK & Ireland, the British High Commission in Ghana, the Ghana Ministry of Tourism, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and wife Cherie, Boris Johnson, Lord Paul Boateng, and Diane Abbott to name a few.
The current GUBA patron is British actor Hugh Quarshie.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu