Some paragliders in flight. Picture: DOUGLAS ANANE FRIMPONG

GTA to establish paragliding training centre in Shai-Osudoku

Haruna Yussif Wunpini, Zadok Kwame Gyesi & Maclean Kwofi Apr - 11 - 2023 , 15:43

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) says it is working to establish a paragliding training centre at the Shai-Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region to help train more Ghanaian pilots in paragliding.

The training centre, when completed, would enable the Authority to locally train Ghanaian nationals, who are interested in paragliding piloting.

Currently, there is only a single Ghanaian, Jonathan Quaye, who is a trained paragliding pilot.

Paragliding is an aviation sport that is enjoyed by hundreds of people around the world.

The Odweanoma Paragliding festival is part of the many activities that feature prominently in the Kwahu Easter celebration in the Kwahu South Municipality in the Eastern Region.

Although paragliding is held annually at Kwahu, the pilots are often foreigners with few Ghanaians helping them with the packing of their flying equipment.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic during this year’s Odweanoma Paragliding Festival at Atibie in the Eastern Region, the Chief Executive Officer of GTA, Akwasi Agyeman, said it was the vision of both the GTA and the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture to have more Ghanaian pilots flying at the Odweanoma Paragliding Field in the coming years.

Currently, he said, 12 dedicated Ghanaians were going through training, explaining that anytime paragliding pilots came to Ghana, those 12 people were taken through some form of training in order to build their competence.

Explaining why GTA was not going to use the Odweanoma Paragliding Field, Mr Agyeman said the Odweanoma cliff was too high for new pilots to be trained there, hence the decision to move to Shai-Osudoku area where smaller mountains could be found.

He said a site had already been identified and that GTA was working closely with the Shai Osodoku District Assembly to get the place prepared for the paragliding training.

"We are working on it so that all year round, the training can go on," the GTA boss pointed out, adding that "This place (Odweanoma Paragliding Field) is too high for the training and so the pilots have told us that we needed a smaller mountain for the training."

Mr Agyeman added other activities, including hiking, camping and cycling to the paragliding to the Odweanoma Paragliding Field festival.

"We are encouraging every Ghanaian to visit places and share photos of their visits so that others can see them and visit those places,” he said.

Odweanoma Paragliding Festival

Touching on the 2023 event, he said about 200 people registered to be flown, expressing the hope that the number would continue to increase in the subsequent years.

He said it was in 2019 that 268 people were flown, the highest number so far, since the paragliding festival started some 15 years ago.

Seven paragliding pilots made up of one Ghanaian and six foreigners displayed their flying skills in the air overlooking Kwahu Atibie and Nkawkaw in the Mpraeso Municipality in the Eastern Region last Friday, when this year's Kwahu paragliding festival started.

The pilots, who are from the United States of America (USA), Japan, Colombia, Peru and Ghana, took off successfully from the Odweanoma Mountain and encircled the Kwahu area before landing at the Nkawkaw Sports Stadium.

The seven pilots for the 2023 Kwahu paragliding festival were Ed Stein – US; Chuck Smith –US; Blake Pelton – US; Eduardo Reategui – Peru; Jonathan Quaye – Ghana; Okada Naohisa – Japan; and Diego Moreno – Colombia.

Before taking off from the Odweanoma Mountain, the pilots went to the Omanhene of the Kwahu Traditional Area, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong, and the Atibiehene to seek their blessings.

Libations were poured to ask the gods of the land to grant clear weather, safe flight and landing.

Hundreds of revellers, both Ghanaians and foreigners, trooped to the Odweanoma Paragliding Field to either participate in the flying or observe the activities.

Patrons were entertained with loud music as those who had registered to be flown took turns to get into the air amid thunderous cheers from the sight-seeing people, who had thronged the place.

Projecting rich culture

At a short ceremony to commence the paragliding activities, the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Acheampong, said the paragliding festival was an annual celebration to project the rich culture of the people and promote the traditional values of Ghanaians.

He said it was also a festival designed to bring wellness to the ecosystem by preserving nature.

He added that the region was endowed with diverse cultural heritage and natural resources as well as tourist sites, among others, citing some major rivers, waterfalls and lakes in the region.

Contributions

The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mark Okraku-Mantey, said the event was very important for the government and the people of Kwahu for its contribution to the Kwahu Easter celebrations.

He said the event played a major role for the growth of domestic and international tourism in the country.

“We want to thank the private sector for supporting the Kwahu Easter celebrations over the years,” he said.

Venture into paragliding business

The Chief of Atibie and Gyasehene of Kwahu Traditional Area, Barima Kwame Asante Betiani II, called on Ghanaians to venture into the paragliding business to help boost local tourism.

He expressed the hope that with time, GTA and the Tourism Ministry would team up to train more Ghanaians in the paragliding.