Governing Council of Asante Congress inaugurated

Kumasi, Sept 25, GNA - The Otumfuo Opoku Ware Jubilee Foundation is to award 150 bursaries to pupils in junior secondary schools this academic year, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, announced on Saturday.

He said the Asanteman Education Fund, has created an endowment fund of 10 million cedis each for 11 senior secondary schools and proposes to award 300 bursaries of 600,000 cedis each for university students.

The Asantehene was inaugurating the Governing Council of the Asante Congress at the offices of the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi. The council with a membership of 72 is to bring all people of Asante descent and those who owe allegiance to the Golden Stool together to deliberate in pertinent issues affecting the fortunes of Asante.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu suggested a minimum regular contribution of 500 cedis a month by all sons and daughters of Asanteman to ensure the success of the educational programme. "We will soon invite individuals to register as contributors and an acceptance mode of collection will be devised for this proposal to come into effect by the end of the year", he said.

He said efforts would be made to revive the scholarship scheme the Asanteman Council initiated for the development of education about 50 years ago.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu commended them for accepting to be members of the Council and urged them to sacrifice for the development of the region and the nation.

He called on them to eschew selfishness, greed and apathy and to desist from dragging the council into party politics. Nana Owusu Aduenin II, Denyasehene and Chairman of the Council, appealed for a plot of land for the construction of a secretariat.

He said membership of the Council is in recognition of the contribution they could make to the realisation of the aspirations of Asanteman.