By Lion Emmanuel Kojo Gyimah, PMJF

International

International Director, Lion Dr. Ing. Ahmed Salem Mostafa Salem, Country Coordinator, Lion Ing. HOB Lawal, District Governor-Elect, Lion Kate Baaba Hudson, Cabinet Officers, Past and Present Lions Clubs International and District Officers, Invited Guests, Lions, Leos, ladies and gentlemen, it has been a year since I was installed as the 4th District Governor of District 418 – Ghana. In life, anything that has a beginning does have an end. It is therefore my greatest pleasure to present to the Lions Clubs International District 418 Ghana a report on my stewardship.

Membership

After all the pomp and pageantry of my installation during the last District Convention and my participation in the Lions Club International Convention in Canada, the least welcome anyone in my position would expect was to wake up on July 1, 2022, to learn that our membership had fallen from 1252 to 1236. This has been a source of headache during my entire time as the District Governor. Along the line, we have added 166 members and then dropped 229 members bringing our net gain to minus 63. It has been like taking one step forward and two steps backwards – a movement of this nature is only retrogressive and as a District, we must begin to look at how to change this to a more progressive movement that is geared toward consistent growth. Lions Clubs International cancelled the charter of a Club, Ho Imperial Lions Club, during this period due to accumulated indebtedness at both LCI and District levels. Some Clubs are still struggling and they may be placed on financial suspension in a couple of weeks if they are unable to honour their financial obligations.

Over the same period, a new Club was chartered, the Tema Industrial Lions Club, a specialty club, focused on diabetes. It is however heartwarming to inform you that three Club applications are currently being processed and hopefully before the end of the service year they will be chartered.

My observation when it comes to membership is that we seem good at adding new members but equally good at dropping them. We must adopt more credible means of assessing people’s readiness to serve and to make the time, treasure and talent commitments required of any quality member. It boils down to explaining in very fine detail what it takes to be a good Lion during the training of prospective members and asking them prior to their induction whether they are ready to make such commitments. We also need to do a critical assessment of the economy of different towns and cities before we plant new Clubs there. This underpins
economic viability and whether a Club will do well or not.

The Leo District has also done quite well. Two new Leo Clubs – the Ho Adanu HTU Leo Club and the Accra
Ubuntu Leo Club were chartered. Membership at the beginning of the year was 677 but it currently stands at 703 with a net gain of 26. During the period 235 Leos were added while 209 were dropped. This has helped boost the Leo District program and empowered Leos to manage their affairs while building strong
bonds of friendship.

Service

Leadership has seen tremendous improvement. As a young provisional district, we thought our only source of training was the Learning Centre. Today, our status has conferred on us a variety of training opportunities such as the Institutes. Today, there are Faculty Development Institute (FDI) and Advanced Lions Learning Institute (ALLI) graduates who have been involved in facilitating training at the Club level. During this year, over 140 learning events, involving over 3,051 participants with 649 unique participants have taken place. The District has benefited immensely from the FDI and ALLI graduates because they have been the facilitators deployed to deliver various training courses to Clubs on an almost monthly basis throughout the entire service year to date. This has benefited both Lions Clubs as well as Leo Clubs. Some of the training courses were; Your Club Your Way, Plan Your Club’s Success, New Member Orientation, Fundraising and Succession Planning. This is the more reason why more FDI graduates are needed to ensure the Lions and Leos in District 418 are well- informed and knowledgeable in many areas.

The District has also hosted an LCI supported Regional Lions Leadership Institute (RLLI) and is on course to host two locally funded Institutes, Advance Lions Leadership Institute (ALLI) and Faculty Development Institute (FDI) in June 2023.

LCIF

Fellow Lions, we have not fared too well as a District when it comes to our contribution to the Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF). Donations to LCIF are very important in ensuring there are grants to support Lions and Leos worldwide in their various activities. Whereas donations to LCIF in the previous year were $39,773.50 we were only able to manage $13,451.40 this year. While my intention is not to hold brief for Lions of District 418, it is an undeniable fact that the over 100% depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar in the past 18 months has made it twice as expensive as it was a year ago to donate to LCIF. By extension donations towards Melvin Jones Fellowship (MJF) have been affected to a large extent. In spite of our not so encouraging performance when it comes to
donations to LCIF, we have, however, benefited from the generosity of the Foundation. During the year in perspective, the following grants were received; a Leadership Development District grant of $500, a Leadership Development Institute grant of $1,800, and an Emergency Relief Grant of $9,985. The others are the GAT Success Story Funding of $500 and the Lions Quest Community Partnership Grant of $15,000. Let me add that, the Leo District also got a GAT Success Story Funding of $500. We gave LCIF very little but got in return all these grants and funding. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to appeal to the Lions of Ghana to make it a habit of supporting the LCIF because we stand to benefit greatly from what we give to the Foundation.

Marketing

Fellow Lions, the Lions Clubs International celebrates its 106th anniversary this year. It is the largest service organisation in the world with over 1.4 million members and a very rich history of global impact. Yet in Ghana, we are not so visible and known in spite of all the impactful service activities we deliver. As part of the strategy to attain my goals for the year, I appointed young and talented Lions with capabilities to help enhance our visibility. I am glad to say that a lot has been achieved but
a lot still needs to be done. We must ensure we showcase what Lions are doing in terms of service activities in order to demystify the Association as well as attract more members.

Ghana Lions Charity Foundation

Fellow Lions, approval has been granted by the LCI for Ghana to set up the Ghana Lions Charity Foundation (GLCF). This is a Foundation created to help raise funds for local causes. Lions are encouraged to donate to the GCLF. Donors will be awarded special pins and plaques. These awards have been named after the late Lion Nelson Yao Agbesi, MJF and Lion Lionel Ankrah. Lion Agbesi was the first District Governor from Ghana in 2002 under District 403 while Lion Lionel Ankrah
was the Lion who reintroduced Lions Clubs International to Ghana in 1987. I am counting on Lions of Ghana to support such a great initiative to help raise funds locally at the District level in support of various causes.

Miscelleneuos

As the District Governor, I am deeply concerned about the divisions among Lions in the District. Why must we be divided over elections? Why have we sacrificed old friendships because of elections or district positions? The role of a District Governor is a sacrificial one. Similarly, cabinet officers also put in enormous amount of time, energy and personal financial resources. Neither is the Governor nor any cabinet officer on any form of allowance or stipend. Let us embrace our differences as human beings and understand that we can all not have the same perspective or support the same candidate. If we claim that we stand for the interest of the underprivileged whom we do not know or have any personal relationships with then we must demonstrate mutual respect and love for one another as Lions.

It is in this vein that I appointed for the first time, a District Conflict Resolution Chairperson whose main task or responsibility is to engage Clubs directly in order to resolve conflicts. As Lions, we stand for peace and must be seen to be making efforts at resolving internal conflicts some of which are responsible for members leaving our Association. I hope in the coming years, this position will be effectively harnessed for the peace and survival of the District.

Challenges

My tenure as the District Governor was certainly not without challenges. Some Lions were not pleased with the increment of the District dues by GHS 50. This had to be done because of the economic situation I touched on earlier in my report.

The non-payment of District dues by some Clubs or the late payment of dues often creates a very difficult situation for the administration of the District. The dues are solely for the running of the District, as a result, Lions must support the District Governor in carrying out his or her mandate by paying their dues on time. This is often dire at the beginning of the service year so the District Governor has to virtually pre- finance the administration of the District until the dues start trickling in.

We made 42 District Governor’s club visits out of 43 during my term as District Governor. Attendance at meetings this year has not been too encouraging according to the various reports that have come to my attention. It was therefore no surprise when during those visits, the various rooms where the meeting took place were most times not filled to capacity. It is important for Lions to always
remember the time, treasure and talent commitments they pledged to make when we decided to become Lions.

Conclusion

Fellow Lions, I would like to thank all of you for the support you gave me during my tenure as your District Governor. It has been a very fulfilling journey filled with great lessons. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all my cabinet officers for accepting to come on board to help me deliver on my mandate. Most of you went all out by putting your best foot forward in fulfilling your responsibilities. Once again, I say a big Ayekoo! This special thanks goes to my family especially my wife for the sacrifices she made in support of my tenure as the District Governor. In addition, my sincere gratitude also goes to the Coordinating Lion, PID HOB Lawal for his immense support from near and far; his advice on various important issues and his interest in the growth of Lionism in Ghana. I also wish to thank our
International Director Lion Dr. Eng. Ahmed Salem and his wife for their support and for gracing this occasion with their physical presence as the Guest Speaker. Last but not least, I thank the Almighty God for seeing me through this assignment successfully.

Long live Lions Clubs International
Long live District 418
Long live Ghana
Lions, We Serve Leos, We Serve