By Paul Hubbard, Board Cahir Maritime Academy
Guest Column
Sister Cities held a conference in Washington DC. Jim Rush, vice president of Thread Marketing Group, was there working for Toledo Sister Cities. Rush met with Dennis Obeng Agyei, public administrator and politician from Ghana, who may be that nation’s next president.
Rush invited Agyei to come to Toledo after the conference to tour the Glass City and see the wonders of Toledo.
As a current candidate for president of Ghana, Agyei says that the polls show him with 60 percent of the vote. He has been a City Council member and a member of Parliament in Ghana.
Vanice Williams, president of Toledo City Council, joined Agyei, Rush and myself for lunch at the Toledo Club. Williams was excited about the fact that Ghanaian city could become a Sister City to Toledo in the future. She indicated that it would be an opportunity for Toledo African Americans to have a relationship to Toledo Sister Cities program.
Williams also had a good dialog with Agyei about education and politics in general. Williams took Agyei on a tour of Toledo City Council and one Government Center.
I asked Agyei to talk about three major problems in Ghana. He replied that education is a problem because of lack of new books, and shoes and clothes to wear to school. He said about 70 percent of children go to school.
When I was in Africa, I saw school kids doing their homework under streetlights because they didn’t have electricity at home.
Agyei said healthcare was also a major problem because there is very little money to pay nurses and doctors. He said the average person travels 50 miles to get healthcare. There is also a lack of medicine.
The third major problem is lack of good infrastructure including sewers. He said the rivers are polluted because of the way miners search for gold and use chemicals to find gold.
Dennis Obeng Agyei said “This trip was to learn of ways to improve Ghana! I am so proud of my country, and our people deserve all the best. I’m striving to raise the level of three core areas education, healthcare, and investments that create meaningful jobs! I met with international experts in Washington DC; Toledo, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois. I’m in discussions with the city leadership to create mutually beneficial exchanges!”
Agyei added that he wants to work with investors from the USA in gold, diamonds and cocoa.