Konor of Manya Krobo Meets Church Leaders
 

The Paramount Chief of Manya Krobo Traditional Area, Nene Sakite, II requested a meeting with Elder Marcus B. Nash and other leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at his palace in Krobo Odumase, Ghana. The Paramount Chief is known as a Konor in the local dialect.

“Each morning as I take my walk, I see signs for your churches. I see your missionaries walking our streets,” commented the Paramount Chief. “Your members go about doing good in our communities. It makes me wonder why we have never met.”

Elder Nash, First Counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency, (the senior governing body of the Church in West Africa) reflected on a time years earlier when he and his wife expected to meet and become acquainted with the friends his children associated with.

“We should have met sooner,” said Elder Nash. “We welcome the chance to become better acquainted. Knowing one another will bring us joy and understanding. Thank you for inviting us.”

Nene Sakite II was pleased to learn the importance the LDS Church places upon family.

“The family is an African tradition. A man gets married to a family, not just the daughter.”  Sakite added, “That is why it is good we have met. When my children associate with your church, I need to know you.”

The Paramount Chief lived in the United States for 30 years but returned to Ghana some 20 years ago. “I came back to help my family,” he said. “I am not Lord over them; I am their father and a father serves his children.”

The delegation from the Church presented the Paramount Chief with a small replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Christus, a statue completed in 1838. Currently and with permission, the Church uses replicas and images of this statue to emphasize the centrality of Jesus Christ in Church teachings.

Elder Nash was accompanied by Elder Anthony Quashie, newly appointed Area Seventy of the Church (an Area Seventy is a local ecclesiastical leader who supervises multiple stakes), as well as Emelia Ahadjie, Area Director of Public Affairs and Elder and Sister Hadley, Public Affairs Specialists.