US Olympic athlete and philanthropist made development queen mother at Twifo Traditional area

A philanthropist and former appointee of President Barack Obama to the President’s Advisory Committee on Arts at the Kennedy Centre, Ms Lorna Mae Johnson has been enstooled development queen of Twifo Traditional area in the Central region of Ghana.

Ms Johnson was enstooled with the name Nana Ama Boafoah I.

The colourful ceremony formed part of the Adae Kese3 festival of the Twifo Traditional area attracted hundreds of indigenes of Twifo to the ceremony.

Mr Lot Amos, a farmer was also officially outdoored as Dwomarkwahene of the Twifo Tradtional area.

They both swore the oath of allegiance to the Omanhene of the area, Obrempong Appiah Nuamah.

Ms Johnson, once an Olympic qualifying athlete and an entrepreneur of Cuban and Jamaica descent also served as a member of the President’s Advisory Board, the Health Committee and the National finance Committee.

She is also a past president of the Los Angeles local chamber of Commerce and was named one of the Seven Wonder Women of the World by the London based organization, Investing In Women.

She is currently the honorary consul of the Jamaica in Los Angeles and the Assistant Treasurer of the US Democratic National Committee.

In her address, Ms Johnson pledged to work to expose young girls in the area to technology and coding by partnering with organizations in the United States and to work with schools in the United States to create an exchange programme for culture exchanges.

Projects

She also pledged to use her established network of investors to invest in a medical facility to enhance women’s health and to provide state of the art facilities for schools in the area.

“My greatest desire in life is to impact lives worldwide particularly women and girls. This honour today will open up more doors for me to do just that” she stated. “Today I become a part of this community and together we will raise the future generation of this country,” she stated.

Back to motherland

Ms Johnson said she was honoured to stand in the motherland and to support its development 400 years since the first slaves were forcefully placed on a ship.

Obrempon Appiah Nuamah

Obrempon Appiah Nuamah in his address appealed more infrastructure projects including a market, a police station, a fire station and for a polyclinic for the area to adequately serve the needs of the people.

He also advised the citizens of the area to support efforts at communal development to accelerate the development of the area.

The Deputy Central Regional Minister, Mr Adjei Baffoe pledged that government would work to continue the development of the area especially the development of roads area.