Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with Elder Michael T. Ringwood of the Presidency of the Seventy, met with His Royal Majesty King Tackie Tieko Tsuru II, the Ga Mantse (King of the Ga people in Ghana), on February 20, 2025. Elders Alfred K. Kyungu, Adeyinka A. Ojediran and Isaac K. Morrison of the Africa West Area Presidency hosted the event at the area offices in Accra, Ghana.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson greets His Royal Majesty King Tackie Tieko Tsuru II on 20 February, 2025.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson greets His Royal Majesty King Tackie Tieko Tsuru II on February 20, 2025.© 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.The Ga Mantse, as the king is known in Ghana, is the revered traditional ruler of the Ga community, the dominant ethnic group in the Greater Accra region. Though the area is also home to other ethnic communities, his influence is particularly notable in the Ga community's traditional governance systems. It is very important to Ghana's residents, the Church in Ghana, and his people in particular.
In fulfilling his stewardship over the Ga people, His Majesty has championed sanitation projects, school renovations, clean water facilities, youth empowerment and vocational training, health clinics and hospital renovations, and much more, all for the benefit of his people. Several of these projects have been done in collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For his part, the King has supported various Church projects. In particular, hosting the Strengthening Families Conference in Accra a few years ago was instrumental as he helped promote the event.
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- The-King-of-Accra-expresses-his-thanks-to-Elder-Christofferson-for-the-Church's-involvement-inprojects-he's-championing,-on-210February,-2025.
- Elder-Ringwood-chats-with-Elders-Ojediran-and-Morrison-of-the-Africa-West-Area-Presidency-as-they-wait-for-the-Ga-Mantse-on-20-February,-2025.
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As the meeting began, the king noted that visiting Church offices in 2023 felt like home. He then proceeded to thank the Church for its involvement in various projects, and for one in particular: "First and foremost, I would like to thank LDS for the refurbishments of the schools, the Tackie Tawiah Cluster of schools. You have also contributed to our community in such a way as never before.”
Referring to the many times the Church has engaged in projects for the people in the area, he remarked: “This work is Christianity in action; it’s God’s work in action. I believe that while my people have benefitted from it physically, it also aids in the extension of trying to find a spiritual meaning to what we profess or what we are preaching.”
The king reflected on his spiritual development, and commenting on his experience visiting Temple Square and meeting with President Russell M. Nelson in April 2023, His Majesty recalled: “Coming to Salt Lake meant renovation, spiritually, for me. I met with the Prophet, and he was able to tell me certain things. The things he told me when he met with me were very defining and specific. It reenergized and resuscitated and gave energy and life to the work that I’m doing. I have been injected with a certain kind of fire to do the things that he said.”
After the introductions and reflections on past projects with Church involvement, the meeting focused on current projects the Church and the King are collaborating on, including an upcoming project to provide boreholes and safe drinking water to underprivileged communities. The king committed to attending all the schools that have benefitted from the boreholes to ensure that the school administrators know that the Church has facilitated them.
The discussion eventually turned to the king's newest goal and heartfelt desire to build a children's hospital in Accra. The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, which is the largest and one of the most well-known teaching hospitals in the country, donated an adjacent plot of five acres to support the king's goal of building a hospital, specifically for the 430,000 children in Accra below the age of 10.
Praising the king for his efforts and desires, Elder Christofferson asked members of the Welfare and Self Reliance group in the Africa West Area offices to begin looking at what support the Church might be able to render for that project.
As the meeting was drawing to a close, Elder Christofferson presented the king with a framed painting of "Lead Kindly Light," which shows the Savior holding up a lamp. He commented, "We hope you think of us when you look at this," and then quipped that perhaps the king might hang the painting in the hospital when it's completed.
As the meeting closed, the Church and the king acknowledged that together, they are family and look forward to many productive future interactions.