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Confirmed: Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo And Kantanka Automobile To Be Honoured

The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana (EFG) has confirmed to the media the names of some indigenous brands and entrepreneurs who would be awarded at this year's Ghana-Made Awards scheduled for October 24 at the Banquet hall of the State House in Accra.

This year's Ghana-Made Awards is on the theme "Industralisation: the key strategy to accelerated Economic Development and Job creation", and is being held under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Minister of Finance ans endorsed by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Great KOSA Group of Companies, Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo (Star of Africa) and Adelaide Ahwireng, CEO of Flo Enterprises Ltd are among the Great Ghanaian personalities to be celebrated.

Sam Ato Gaisie, President of the EFG, who disclosed this recently in a statement, said these personalities would be recognized for their immense role in promoting made-in-Ghana products.Speaking about indigenous brands, he disclosed that the products and services shortlisted were judged on the criteria of Quality, Content, Innovation and Product leadership.

He added that the benefits of the products, product value and product certification by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) were all part of the considerations.

The Kantanka SUVs and Pickups which have been stirring inspirational waves in the country and driving International attention are among the products selected by the EFG for the awards.

Other products include GTP Nustyle, Woodin Fabrics, Golden Tree Chocolate, Kasapreko Alomo Bitters, Pride Rice, Ruut Extra Premier Beer and special Ice Natural Mineral Water.

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. TV3's Ghana's Most Beautiful programme, UT Bank Koowa Accounts, Ghana Commercial Bank, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GTV Agrofie programme, Global Access SME Auto Loan and Unibank Ghana Ltd. he added, were among some service providers selected.

Source: Africa Redemption Magazine

Parents who immigrated illegally to the United States and now fear deportation under the Trump

administration are inundating immigration advocates with requests for help in securing care for their children in the event they are expelled from the country.

The coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) advocacy group has been receiving about 10 requests a day from parents who want to put in place temporary guardianships for their children, said spokesman Jorge-Mario Cabrera. Last year, the group said it received about two requests a month for guardianships letter and notarization services.

At the request of a non profit organization, the National Lawyers Guild in Washington D.C. put out a call this week for volunteer attorneys to help immigrants fill out forms granting friends or relatives the right to make legal and financial decisions in their absence.

In New Jersey, immigrant attorney Helen Ramirez said she is getting about six phone calls a day from parents. Last year, she said, she had no such calls."Their biggest fear is that their kids will end up in foster care," Ramirez said.

President Donald Trump's administration has issued directives to agents to more aggressively enforce immigration Laws and more immigrants are coming under scrutiny by the authorities.

For parents of U.S. citizens who are ordered removed, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents "accommodates" to the extent practicable, the parents' efforts to mae provisions" for their children, said ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez. She said that might include access to a lawyer, consular officials and relatives for detained parents to execute powers of attorney or apply for passports and buy airline tickets if the parents decide whether or not to take the children with them.

Randy Capps of he Migration Policy Institute (MPI) a Washington-based non-profit that analyzes the movement of people worldwide, said that while putting contingency plans in place is a good idea, he does not think the level of fear is justified.

During the previous administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat, the likelihood of both parents being deported was slim, Capps said. He doubts there will be a huge shift under Republican Trump toward deporting both parents.

The odds are still very low as they were - and this is just the beginning of the administration," he said. About five million children under the age of 18 are living with at least one parent who is in the country illegally, according to a 2016 study by MPI. Most of the children, 79 percent, were U.S. citizens, according to ICE data.

Obama was criticized for being the "deporter in chief" after he expelled more than 400,000 people in 2012, the most by any president in a single year. In 2014, the Obama administration began focusing on a narrower slice of immigrants, those who had recently entered the country or committed serious felonies. Trump has said he would still priortize criminals for deportation.

WORRIED ALL THE TIME

In rural New Jersey, Seidy Martinez and her husband Jose Gomez, have begun the difficult conversations with their 10-year-old daughter about what would happen if her parents were deported.

Martinez, a house cleaner, and Gomez, who works on a horse farm, are both from Honduras. They entered the United States illegally, and do not have papers, unlike their daughter, who has been granted asylum, and their 3-year old son, a U.S. citizen.

"Now we are worried all the time. We don't have anything that would allow us to stay here," said Martinez. Our main concern is what will happen to our children.She has told her daughter that she could live with her aunt in Miami and is considering drafting paperwork that would give her relatives some legal rights if she and her husband are deported. The 10-year old tries to comfort her mother. "she tells me, "Mami, tranquila. Don't be afraid, I am scared too but don't worry everything will be OK."

'IF MOM DOESN'T COME HOME'

Rebecca Kitson, an immigration attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, says she advises her increasingly nervous clients to have the kind of conversations Martinez and her husband are having with their children.

She said she urges parents to be specific in their instructions. "If mom doesn't come home by specific time, who do [the kids] call?" said Kitson. Immigration groups are offering low-cost services. CHIRLA, for example, offers a free sample letter and help filling it out, which then must be notarized at a cost of about $10. But some parents here illegally they have had trouble finding affordable help.

Melvin Arias, 39, a New Jersey landscaper from Costa Rica who entered the United States illegally 13 years ago, said he decided after hearing news of stepped-up immigration enforcement to take legal precautions for his five-year-old son and six-month old daughter, who are both U.S. citizens.

But when he asked help from two different lawyers, Arias was told preparing legal documents would cost him between $700 and $1,250. He is looking for a cheaper way to obtain the paperwork he needs.

"If there comes a time when both of us have a problem, I want there to be a responsible person who can come and get the [children] for us, to take them to wherever we might be," Arias said.

(Reporting By Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Mica Rosenberg in New York;Editing by Sue Horton and Grant McCool)

Kantanka Vehicles Are Standard – Ghana Standard Authority

In the recent press conference organised by the Kantanka Automobile Company it was announced that by the close of 2014 the company would begin with the commercialisation of Kantanka sports utility vehicles and pickups.

The company further displayed some of the vehicles that had successfully graduated through the various test runs and were ready for the market.

The press were also taken to the assembly plant and guided through the various stages involved in the car manufacturing process.

Over the years the company has been manually manufacturing series of vehicles from electric cars to vehicles that are started with gold watch.

This manually manufacturing process made it difficult for the company to produce the vehicles on commercial scale but the installation of the Kantanka Assembly Plant which is as sophisticated as any assembly plant in the world have paved way for mass production to commence.

Speaking to the media, the company confirmed that it would increase begin with the manufacturing of 80 to 200 cars monthly and would increase the numbers to meet the growing demand.

It also came to light that the Ghana Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (formerly called Vehicle & Licencing Division, a semi-autonomous public sector organization under the Ministry of Transportation established by Act of 1999) as well as the Ghana Standard Authority have been visiting the manufacturing site of the company and have given them the green light.

The media also found out the Authority upholds that the previous Kantanka Vehicles that were manually manufactured were all up to standard. The issuance of certificates by the Authority to the company confirms the whole story.

The Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) is a national Standard body established by the Standards Decree, 1967 (NLCD 199) which has been superseded by the Standards Decree, 1973 (NRCD 173). The Authority is also the custodian of the Weights and Measures Decree (NRCD 326, 1975). They are dedicated to the standardisation of goods and services in the country and carry out routine inspections to ensure that these standards are maintained.

Source: Africa Redemption Magazine

Adwoa Safo Calls For More Power For Procurement Authority

Adwoa Safo, Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament

The Deputy Majority leader of Parliament, Adwoa Safo, is pushing for the amendment of the public procurement act to give the Procurement Authority, the powers to conduct value for money auditing on sole sourced projects.

She described as sad, revelations by the Auditor General's annual reports that 80 percent of the procurement malpractices are centered on sole sourcing.

Addressing the press on Friday, Adwoa Safo , who is also the Member of Parliament for the Dome Kwabenya constituency said the Akufo-Addo administration will rely on open competitive tendering to correct what she described as anomaly in the procurement act.

"From 2012 to 2014 when I was on the public accounts committee, about 80% of their recommendations to parliament are procurement malpractices... So I think that if the law is there, you need also a policy direction. And I think that, that is the first step that the president has given us in his state of the nation address."

"His [President Akufo-Addo] policy direction is that this government is going to adopt open competitive tendering, so that there is openness, transparency, accountability, value for money and competition is opened to everybody including Ghanaians," she noted.

The New Patriotic Party administration accused the Mahama administration of having a voracious appetite for sole sourcing of contracts which were inflated at times.

The NPP argued that, sole sourcing allowed corruption, and benefited a privileged few in the NDC government.

Adwoa Safo is a professional lawyer with specialization in Procurement Law.

She once worked as the first legal officer of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) for two (2) years, and was very instrumental in the formation of the proposals that formed the basis for the creation of the Appeals and Complaint Panel of PPA, and the change of the name Public Procurement Board to Public Procurement Authority.

Source: Ghanaweb

Nana Kwadwo Turns 31 Years Old

Today, the 24th of February 2017 happens to be Nana Kwadwo Safo Jnr, CEO of Kantanka Automobile Company LTD, the son of Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo Kantanka's birthday. He turns 31 years of age. Being a commercial pilot who acquired his license at the age of 19. You deserve to be a king. Happy birthday.

Kristo Asafo To Train Junior High Graduates

The government is taking steps to bring the research of the Kristo Asafo (Christ Reformed Church) into the national structured apprenticeship training programme.

This would enable the institution known as "Great KOSA Sua Ye Research Institute", to give apprenticeship training to Junior High graduates who could not continue their education to Senior High School.

Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, the Minister of Local Government, Development and Environment, disclosed this at the 27th Annual Charity and Technology Exhibition of the Kristo Asafo at the refurbished Jackson Park in Kumasi. The ceremony afforded the church the opportunity to showcase some of its technological products and food items.

A number of schools and needy institutions were also presented with food items by the church. Under the national apprenticeship programme, which was born out of the new educational reforms, various Institutions and organisations engaged in skills training were being restructured with a common goal and programme for training JHS graduates.

According to Mr Adjei-Darko, a Cabinet sub-committee had been put in place to work on the new apprenticeship programme. The minister stated that," Kristo Asafo had become a partner-of-development as their activities have entered the frontiers of technology and are now doing wonders in the field of inventions". He pointed out that a resourceful citizenry was very crucial to obtaining accelerated development in the communities.

He expressed concern about the "frightening dimensions" of diseases, squalor and filth in the communities, and called on Apostle Kwadwo Safo, founder and head of the church, to consider delving into locally adaptable technologies for waste management. He commended the church for playing a key role in the fight against unemployment.

The Principal of the College of Technology Education (Kumasi Campus) of the University of Education, Winneba, Professor Steve Sobotie, said the technological advancement of Apostle Safo and his church was something the nation could reap maximum benefits if the necessary attention was given to it.

He said the college was already collaborating with the Kristo Asafo in giving practical training to technology students of the university. In his address, Apostle Safo said the "technological inventions" of the church were no fluke.

He called for the necessary support from the authorities to enable the church to do more for the nation. Present at the ceremony was the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah and the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Osei Assibey-Antwi.

Source: Daily Graphic.

Meet The First Female Deputy Majority Leader Of Ghana’s Parliament

The news may come to you as a surprise but that is the reality. For the time in the history of Ghana, a female has been appointed as the Deputy Majority Leader of the Parliament of Ghana.

A young vibrant woman representing the people of Dome-Kwabenya in the Greater Accra Region, Sarah Adwoa Safo, got the nod to deputize her boss, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, to lead the Majority Caucus of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) made up of 171 lawmakers for the seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic which will be constituted on Saturday, January 7, 2017.

This follows the massive endorsement of the list of five leaders for the Majority front which was submitted to the Council of Elders of the elephant family for consideration and approval on Thursday, January 5, 2017.

Sarah Adwoa Safo alongside Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu will be working hand-in-hand with Kwasi Ameyaw-kyeremeh, MP for Sunyani East (Majority Chief Whip), Moses Anim, MP for Trobu (1st Deputy Majority Whip) and Matthew Nyindam, MP for Kpandai to stir the affair of the Majority Caucus.

The vibrant young lawmaker who is a lawyer by profession has been very active in deliberations ever since she entered into Parliament of Ghana on January 7, 2013 to be part of the history making process of parliamentary democracy.

Her appointment may come to many with a question mark, considering the fact that she has been a lawmaker for only one term, thus just four years, and therefore, has not gained enough experience in parliamentary work to occupy such a sensitive position.

But the young lawyer deserves the position having contributed immensely to the success story of the NPP, especially, in the last two elections the party has competed in.

Besides winning more votes for the party, her contribution in the legislature has been very remarkable. Her dynamism in debating issues with her colleagues on the floor has always been admired by her peers. She has distinguished herself very well in Parliament and at the constituency level.

Her in-depth knowledge in procurement has made her an expert in that field. No wonder procurement related issues are always reserved for her to probe Public Accounts Committee sittings.

Profile

Lawyer Sarah Adwoa Safo is a legal practitioner and a daughter of Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo, one of Ghana's reowned technologist, philanthropist and industrialist.

She started her basic education under the tutelage of her father. At age 17 she entered the University of Ghana after passing her Ordinary and Advanced Levels' General Certificate of Examination Certificates non-formally.

At the University of Ghana, Adwoa studied law and graduated with a Bachelor of Law (L.L.B.) degree in 2002. She then continued to the Ghana School of Law and was called to the Bar in October 2004 at the age of 22, making her the youngest lawyer ever to be called to the Ghana Bar. This record she held and still holds in the annals of the Ghana School of Law.

At the University of Ghana , Adwoa was the Vice President of the LawBallot pix Student's Union (LSU) for the year 2001-2002 academic tear, a position she held to the admiration of the then Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Akua Kwenyehia. She was also a member of the Volta Hall Judicial Committee from 2001-2002.

Lawyer Adwoa Safo did not stop there. She continued to the George Washington University Law School in United States where she obtain a Masters of Law Degree (LLM) in Government Procurement in 2005. She worked briefly with the office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington DC in the United States and thereafter returned to Ghana to serve her nation.

She was the first legal advisor to the Legal Department of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA). She further acted as the secretary to the board and advised the Board and the secretariat on legal issues.

She was instrumental in the formulation of the proposal that formed the basis for the creation of the Appeal and Compliant Panel of the PPA and the change in the name Public Procurement Board to Public Procurement Authority.

She contested the Dome-Kwabenya constituency on the ticket of the NPP during the December 2012 parliamentary election and won with a sterling 63.75%.

Her victory revealed the concorted electoral burglary and a revelation of electoral irregularities, pink sheet swap and voter number manipulation which has resulted in the historical Election Petition Hearing by the Supreme Court of Ghana.

Source: kasapafmonline

36th Kristo Asafo Technology Exhibition Held In Accra

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo exchanging pleasantries with Apostle Kwadwo Safo

The fair, on the theme: "Promoting religion, science and technology for socio-economic transformation", attracted many dignitaries, including the President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, vice-chancellors of universities and some Members of Parliament (MPs).

Exhibition

Items manufactured by the Founder and Leader of the mission, Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo Kantanka, and his team of engineers from the Kantanka Technological Centre of Excellence (KTCE) at Gomoa Mpota in the Central Region were displayed at the exhibition centre at Awoshie.

They included a locally made V8 car engine block, a three-wheel motorbike, a robotic welding machine, a special smoke detector and a tower weapons for warfare.

The engineers also demonstrated how the machines worked to those in attendance. Some of the dignitaries were conducted round the exhibition centre by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Kantanka Automobile Limited, Mr Kwadwo Safo Jnr.

Industralization

Speaking at the exhibition, Nana Akufo-Addo expressed the desire of his yet-to-be-sworn-in government to partner the private sector to speed up the country's industrialization.

He said the private sector would play a pivotal role in the country's quest to ensure the realization of the one-district-one-factory policy.

Accordingly, he said his government would encourage and collaborate with Ghanaian scientists, enterpreneurs, innovators and inventors, such as Apostle Safo, towards accelerating the industrialisation process.

Ghanaian scientists and inventors such as Apostle Safo are the kind of people my government will work with closely to speed up the industrialisation process. My government will protect, encourage and collaborate with Apostle Safo to take the nation higher in the area of science and technology", Nana Akufo-Addo said.

Right Team

The President-elect added that the country's desire for greater heights could only be achieved if the right team was put in place, noting that science and technology were key components for the development of the nation, for which reason his administration would ensure that committed Ghanaians with insight into science and technology would manage the sector.

He announced that the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng , would be assigned responsibility for the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MEST) when the former CEO was approved by parliament.

Nana Akufo-Addo expressed high hopes in the Ghanaian physician and cardiothoracic surgeon who established the National Cardiothocic Centre that would bring the needed change to the sector. He was of the belief that science and technology were key areas which needed to be strenghtened to attain development, adding that persons who were making giant strides in the sector needed to br motivated to attain higher heights.

Priortise Technology

For his part, Apostle Safo urged Nana Akufo-Addo's incoming government to priortise science and technology for the rapid development of the nation. He said the world was moving at a fast pace in the area of science and technology and that Ghana could not be naive about that development.

Apostle Safo also reiterated his call for a change in the educational curricular of the country to make it more practically focused than theoretical.

He said he did not understand why Ghana was giving much attention to the other disiplines, to the neglect of science and technology, stressing that the same attention given to the Humanities ought to be accorded science programmes.

"I would like to reiterate the point I have made several times that there is the need for the country to take a second look at our education curricular to make it more practical oriented, so that we can train students with the requisite skills, competencies and know-how to help in the development agenda of Ghana and Africa as a whole", he said

Assistance

The Director of Academic Affairs of Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, called on the incoming government to assist Apostle safo to manufacture more vehicles and technological implements for the benefit of the nation.

For his part, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro- Owusu, who co-chaired the event with Prof. Ayum Teye, the Vice-Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS), added his voice to the call on the incoming administration to make reforms that would focus the country's development policy more on science and technological development..

Prof. Teye announced that the UDS would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) eith the KTCE to enable students of the UDS to undergo practical training at the KTCE.

The Family Behind Ghana’s Made To Survive Anything Car

A pastor is perhaps an unlikely candidate to become Ghana's first car manufacturer. But that's what Apostle Kwadwo Safo, founder of the Christ Reformed Church, and who is known locally as the "Star of Africa", has done.

And the inventor has become something of a legend in Ghana, virtually no history of manufacturing. As a child he'd had a knack for building things, and before becoming a pastor he'd trained as a welder. :(My father) had ambiyion and foresight. He thought of everything in preparation of Kantanka", says Safo's son, Kwadwo safo Jr.. Today, Kantanka Group is split into an electronics division and a car manufacturing company--Ghana's first car maker.

Made in Ghana

The "made in Ghana" cars were modeled for tough local conditions--and, to prove it, the Ghana Police test drove them. Safo Jr, 31, says he has learned a lot from his father.

"We are expanding our current production line to include a lower-end model which we will launch before the end of the year", he says. We have made quite significant sales, including a very important one to the office of the President". Safo Jr

31-year old Kwadwo safo Jr. is the CEO of the family's car Business

Safo Jr. didn't always plan to be in the car business. After studying in London, in 2006 he went to earn his pilot's license in the United States. In 2009, he returned to Ghana and earned a bachelor's degree in public administration before joining the family business.

As for being a pilot?

"The dream changed, it's been put on hold", he said. Safo Jr says operating in Ghana isn't without difficulties: at times there are power cuts and getting fuel needed for back-up generators can be hard.

Apprentices work at Apostle Safo Technology Research Center in Gomoa Mpota, Ghana.

Believe in yourself

One of the biggest challenges is getting customers to believe in "made in Ghana". "People think the doors will come off or the tires will blow off or something", he said.

Though the company has had positive reviews, Kantanka is still a relatively small operator competing with well established foreign rivals. The manufacturer can produce 150 cars a month, and with high production costs at home, the cheapest of its three models costs about $20,000.00.

"We need to be able to produce at a more affordable rate. There are high import charges in Ghana", he says. "Once you are determined and you want to do it, it's not hard" he says.

Source: CNN.com

Gov’t Acquires Kantanka Vehicles For Presidency

The office of the Vice President has taken delivery of two Kantanka Onantefuo 4x4 vehicles to add to the fleet of vehicles at the Presidency. A third vehicle is expected to be delivered in due course. This action is in fulfilment of the government's pledge to support the Kantanka Automobile Company to thrive and give meaning to the campaign for Ghanaians to patronise locally manufactured products.

Kantanka vehicles:

Receiving the vehicles at the Kantanka Automobile Assembly Plant at Gomoa Mpota in the Central Region on Tuesday, the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, expressed optimism about the prospects of the Kantanka Automobile Company founded by Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo.

The assembly plant is where the various types of Kantanka vehicles are made, including the electric saloon and electric four-wheel drives, an electric SUV called Nkunimdie, the Kantanka Onantefuo 4x4 pick-up and the Kantanka Opasuo Range.

Facility visit

The Vice-President, who was conducted round the assembly plant by the Chief Operating Officer of the company, Mr Kwadwo Safo Jnr, said the vehicles could compete with other imported vehicles, particularly as their spare parts were readily available on the local market.

He stated that procuring the vehicles was in the line with government's call to the citizenry to patronise made in Ghana goods and added that "this is only the beginning; with time we will get there". Mr Amissah-Arthur visited the welding line, the spraying room, the general assembly line(rain tests) and test line of the plant.

Exhibition

Apostle Safo, on an annual basis, displays his products at an event dubbed: "Technology exhibition of the Kristo Asafo Mission" in Accra which provides a platform for him to showcase his innovations.

At the last exhibition in January this year, he displayed a Kantanka 4x4 cross country vehicle, a Kantanka saloon car which is started by the wave of a handkerchief, a six-cylinder car engine with a radiator, military warfare apparel and some electric devices.

Mr Amissah-Arthur, who was the guest of honour at the event, noted that innovation and technology were a prerequisite for national development and expressed the government's readiness to support Apostle Safo to propel his mission to higher heights.

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Kantanka Automobile Plant Inaugurated

The first of 35 vehicles made by the Kantanka Automobile Manufacturing Company, an indigenous Ghanaian vehicle-manufacturing company, will be on the Ghanaian market.

Two models of sports utility vehicles, the Kantana Omama and the Kantanka Onantefo, will be unveiled, together with the Kantanka K71 saloon car, in Accra. The company is expected to increase production to 70 vehicles by January 2016. the price per vehicle will be announced at the ceremony, but reliable sources say it starts from GH 76,000.00.

Prior to that he was a master technician at the Suame Magazine in Kumasi in the 1970's before he ventured into Gospel ministry.

As a music enthusiast, Apostle Safo started with the manufacture of electrical drums with brain units, loud speakers, professional mixing consoles, amplifiers, pre-amps and seven-stringed bass guitar (the first of its kind in the world at the time).

He then moved into the manufacture of sewing and embroidery machines, corn mills, combine harvesters, solar panels, anti-gravity devices, multi-purpose mobile block moulding machines capable of producing 16 to 18 blocks at a time, human-sensor television sets and many more.

He manufactured his first automobile, the Kantanka Saloon, in 1998 and a cross-country four wheel drive, the Kantanka Onantefo 1, in 2006. On December 30, 2007, Apostle Safo unveiled a 26-foot long Limousine style cross-country vehicle, the Kantanka Obrempong, at the church's 27th annual charity and technology fair at Awoshie in Accra. On the same day, he launched an excavator. All his products are made from local materials.

He also brought to the public scene the Kantanka jet, an air-conditioned, four seater aircraft he manufactured. In 2012, he launched a sports utility vehicle, the Kantanka Nsoromma, which is powered by a shirt. In the same year, he introduced another 4x4 vehicle, the "kantanka Daasebre", which is powered and steer-controlled by a wristwatch.

In June 2007. he released an advanced model of the Kantanka Onantefo 11, which, like all his cars, was driven through most parts of the country for testing.That same year, he unveiled a solar-powered non engine saloon car, the Kantanka Odeneho.

In 2013, he unveiled the Kantanka Otumfuo, a four-wheel drive that is ignited with a walking stick; the Kanatanka Odeneho11, an upgraded version of the Kantanka Odeneho 1, the KTK 02, a defensive helicopter, the Kantanka passenger ailiner and Kantanka Bazookas.

Tax Exemption

Speaking at the inauguration of the company's manufacturing plant at Gomoa Mpota in the Central Region of yesterday, the Central Regional Minister, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, called on the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to enter into a special arrangement with the company to grant it some tax reliefs for some time.

That, he sad, would afford the company the opportunity to become well-grounded for maximum output. He said the tax concession would also ensure that the prices of the vehicles would be competitive enough for Ghanaians to patronise them.

'Leadership must patronise vehicles'

Mr Quansah also called on the political leadership and other business to patronise the Kantanka vehicles in order to promote the brand and provide a worthy example for the rest of Ghanaians to emulate.

He said the move by the company would provide an easy opportunity for Ghanaians who patronised its vehicles to be spared the ordeal of having to import vehicle parts often at high cost.

In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, said over the years, Ghanaians had been asking when the Kantanka vehicles would be available in commercial quantities, saying that had now become a reality, to the pride of all Ghanaians.

Ghana ready for global automobile market

The achievement by the Kantanka Automobile Manufacturing Company, he said, was a clear signal that Ghana was ready to play in the global space of the automobile industry. He said the success of the company was timely, coming on the heels of President Mahama's launch of made-in-Ghana goods and services.

He said the government was committed to playing a leading role in ensuring that the automobile industry thrived. Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo recounted that the success of his automobile company was attributable to hard work and the penchant to succeed.

Resilience:

He said in spite of many challenges that he encountered, in addition to the tendency on the part of some people to mock his vision, he continued to aim high and told himself that he could make it.

"It is good to believe in God, but you do not pray and sit down expecting God to let manna fall from Heaven. You must take the steps to do something and God will crown it with success", he said.

Source: Graphic online

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