The Richard Nii Armah Quaye (RNAQ) Foundation and the Ga Mantse Foundation have launched a scholarship fund to support brilliant but financially disadvantaged Ga-Dangme students pursuing tertiary education.

The initiative was launched on Monday, September 14, at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra as part of efforts to expand educational opportunities for young people within the Ga-Dangme community.

The fund is intended to reduce financial barriers that prevent deserving students from completing their education while encouraging individuals and institutions within the community to invest in the next generation of professionals, leaders and scholars.

Opening the event, the lead for RNAQ Foundation, Emmanuel Lamptey, said the initiative was conceived as a long-term effort to unite the Ga-Dangme community around education and development.

Mr Lamptey said engagements with traditional leaders had revealed a shared commitment to improving opportunities for young Ga-Dangme people.

He said the initiative was not intended to diminish the importance of the various stools and traditional areas but to create a common platform for development.

“We do not have to surrender the strength of our own stools or traditions to find a common path. There are moments when our development must bring us together. This is one of those moments,” he said.

He expressed hope that the gathering would become an annual tradition through which the community could celebrate its heritage while also assessing its progress and identifying practical ways to build a stronger future.

President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs and Nungua Mantse, Oboade Notse King Professor Odaifio Welentsi III, described education as a critical factor in the development of Ga-Dangme communities.

“If there is one major factor that has contributed to the lack of progress in the Ga-Dangme communities, it is education,” he said.

He noted that although several Ga-Dangme individuals had achieved significant success locally and internationally, there was still considerable room for improvement in educational attainment within the community.

Prof Welentsi III said financial difficulties continued to prevent some talented young people from pursuing their educational ambitions.

“Let us therefore regard the Richard Nii Armah Quaye Ga-Dangme youth scholarship fund as our collective response, a pledge that those capable minds in the Ga-Dangme region should not be denied an education for lack of means,” he said.

He urged beneficiaries to use the opportunity responsibly and encouraged members of the community to support the initiative through donations, mentorship and advocacy.

“By investing in these young minds, we are investing in the future of Ga-Dangme. We are empowering the next generation of leaders, innovators, and citizens who will uplift our region and contribute to the progress,” he added.

Founder of the RNAQ Foundation, Richard Nii Armah Quaye, said his decision to establish the initiative was influenced by encouragement from several Ga-Dangme traditional rulers.

“I have been encouraged by Nii Ga, Nii Katamanso, Nii Nungua and some other Ga-Dangme traditional rulers to start my charity from home,” he said.

Mr Quaye said the scholarship fund was also part of a broader effort to address what he described as a lack of unity among Ga-Dangme people.

“We lack unity among other virtues as Ga-Dangme people, that is why we are underdeveloped as a people. Let’s unite and build a greater Ga-Dangme,” he said.

He urged members of the community to contribute their skills, resources and expertise towards the development of the Ga-Dangme people.

“Fellow Ga-Dangme people, bring on board everything you have, in order for us to build a formidable Ga-Dangme,” he added.

The Ga Mantse, King Nii Tackie, who was guest of honour at the ceremony, called on Ga-Dangme people to make education a key component of their development agenda.

“In order to foster a better tomorrow for Ga-Dangme, education should be a key factor in our development agenda,” he said.

He expressed gratitude to Mr Quaye for establishing the scholarship fund and called on members of the community to support the initiative.

“I am extremely grateful to Richard Nii Armah Quaye for the foresight of the Ga-Dangme scholarship fund. Let’s all come together and support this initiative,” he added.

The Ga Mantse also appealed to Ga-Dangme traditional leaders to work towards greater unity within the community.

“I pledged to stand firm with Nii Nungua in ensuring unity amongst the Ga-Dangme people,” he said.

He further urged queen mothers to intervene whenever disputes arise among traditional leaders and help restore peace.

The launch was attended by traditional leaders, representatives of the RNAQ Foundation, members of the Ga-Dangme community and personalities from the creative industry, among others.

Speaking at the launch, the External Consultant for RNAQ Holdings and the RNAQ Foundation, Jesse Agyapong, said the initiative was conceived after concerns about the low representation of Ga-Dangme students among graduates of tertiary institutions.

He said the Foundation became particularly concerned after an engagement with the leadership and students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

“A few months ago, we found ourselves at KNUST where we met with the leadership of KNUST and a couple of students at what was supposed to be a graduating event. Now, being on campus, we realised that the cohort of Ga-Dangme students who were graduating, the percentage wasn't significant enough,” he said.

According to Mr Agyapong, subsequent engagements revealed that financial difficulties, including the inability to pay fees, were among the factors limiting some Ga-Dangme young people from progressing through tertiary education.

He stressed, however, that the scholarship was not intended to cover the fees of every Ga-Dangme student but to specifically support brilliant and needy young people.

“How do we and how does Richard Nii Armah Quaye’s Foundation, support young people, Ga-Dangme youth, in going through an educational journey without any inhibition? Again, it's not to pay the school fees of all Ga-Dangme students. It's to pay for Ga-Dangme students who are brilliant and needy,” he said.

Mr Agyapong said the initiative would initially focus on tertiary education, with the expectation that it would eventually be expanded to address other educational needs within the community.