GHANA: A Chinese businessman just got enstooled as a traditional chief in Ghana, and yeah people are talking.
His name is Zheng Xiangming. He runs Greenhouse International Development Group Ghana Limited. The community gave him the stool name Hiowe Golaka Noryam Matse Nene Asumahtsu I.
Why? Because he’s put money into the place. A commercial park. An amusement project. Jobs. More activity in the local economy. He’s been working around Afienya the Bright International Industrial Hub, plus that amusement park they started last year.
Then the video dropped over the weekend and it was on.
Some people are fine with it. He invested. He created work. Ghana has given development-chief titles to foreigners before. To them, this is just the community saying thank you.
Others are not fine with it at all. Their question is simple: should a foreign businessman be sitting on a traditional stool? For them, this isn’t about the projects. It’s about culture. Who belongs. Who gets to carry that kind of name.
So that’s where it sits. Jobs on one side. Identity on the other.
People keep pointing out that this is more of an honour for development, not him becoming a ruling royal. That hasn’t cooled anything down. Online, Ghanaians and people across the region are still arguing whether this is recognition… or a line that got crossed.
The ceremony already happened. The name is already his. The argument isn’t going anywhere.
