A woman from Norfolk has been made an African Tribal Chief for the second time. Ten years ago Lynne Symonds, a schoolteacher from Norfolk, set up the Wulugu Project to promote education in developing countries.
In April 1996, Ms Symonds was made chief of the Mamprusi tribe in Northern Ghana in recognition for her contribution to education in the country.
Now she has been made Chief of the Gonja Tribe, also in Northern Ghana.
Ms Symonds said: “I do it because of the children – they deserve a better life.
“There’s no reason for them to have distended bellies, there’s no reason for them to have rickets and skin diseases or for the death rate to be as high as it is.”
The ceremony to make her Chief lasted for five hours in temperatures of 40C.
She is now the ruler of 1.5 million people.
She said: “This is a very symbolic occasion.
“I just hope that in another ten years I don’t have another chieftaincy to keep up with because the heat is far too much.
“I don’t think I could cope.”
Source: GhanaWeb
