Lions of Africa will be hosted for the first time in Ghana this month to deliberate on the future of the Lions Clubs International (LCI) on the continent.

The fourth Africa forum of LCI which would be held in Accra from November 15 to 18, is being hosted by District 418, Ghana and expected to bring together the international leadership of the club and over 700 members from Africa, Lebanon, India and the USA.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo, and the International President of LCI are expected to grace the four-day event which will be on the theme “Africa Realising the Unrealised.”

The LCI is an international non-political, non-governmental, non-religious and not for profit service organisation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois in Chicago, USA, with over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members in over 200 countries around the world. 

Key highlights

Speaking to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of a press briefing in Accra yesterday on the upcoming forum, the Past District Governor of District 418, Dr Kwaku Mensa-Bonsu, said key highlights of the event would include discussions on new areas of improving the organisation’s services and impact on the continent and the African Leadership of the organisation.

He explained that Africa became a constitutional area of the organisation a few years ago, and therefore needed to build its succession to the top.

Other activities will include Africa Night to showcase the cuisines in Ghana, Banquet and a parade.

Dr Mensa-Bonsu said the organisation was not a secret society but one that thought of impacting the lives of people in a positive way, including infrastructure development.

Some of the contributions of the club to national development include a modern Eye-Care training centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital, an eye-care centre at the Tema General Hospital, hearing impairment centre for the Cape Coast School for the Deaf, libraries, kitchen facilities, boreholes, donating food items, clothing to the less privileged in society.

He called on Ghanaians, especially the youth who were kind at heart and ready to serve humanity, to join the organisation and through their talents, resources and knowledge impact the continent and the world at large positively.

What the LCI is about

The District Governor of District 418, Kate Baaba Hudson, who presented a background of the organisation, explained that the name ‘LIONS’ was an acronym that stood for Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nations’ Safety.

She disclosed that the Lions International was introduced into the country in 1980/81 when the first club of Accra received its charter certificate.

With the increase in the number of clubs, Ghana later achieved Zone status and was placed in the same region as Togo and Benin.

Ghana as “District 418” was officially ratified at the close of the 101st Lions International Convention in Las Vegas-Nevada, USA.

On January 2019, she said the first district officers of District 418 were elected, with Dr Kwaku Mensa-Bonsu as the District Governor.

The district has since held four district conventions.

The country has 46 clubs with about 1300 members.