Lions Club International District 418 – Ghana has installed Lion Kate Baaba Hudson, the immediate past Editor of the Junior Graphic, a subsidiary of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), as the District Governor for the 2023-2024 Service Year.

As the fifth District Governor, her stewardship, takes effect from Saturday, July 1, 2023, succeeding Lion Emmanuel Kojo Gyimah, whose tenure ends on Friday, June 30, 2023.

The one-time Acting Editor of the Mirror newspaper, also of GCGL, was sworn into office by Lion Gyimah at the District’s 2023 annual Convention held in glitz in Cape Coast.

Before her election and subsequent installation as the District Governor, Lion Hudson, a Progressive Melvin Jones Fellow (PMJF), was the First Vice Governor of the District.

Lion Hudson, shortly after her swearing-in, inducted into office members of the District Cabinet for the 2023 – 2024 Lions Service Year to help her steer the affairs of the Club.

Lion Dr Helena Asamoah-Hassan, a retired Librarian of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and current Board Chairperson of the Ghana Library Authority, was sworn in as the First Vice District Governor while Lion Obeng Dwamena, a Melvin Jones Fellow (MJF), was confirmed as the Second Vice District Governor.

Held on the theme: “Together for Effective Service,” the annual meeting, attended by hundreds of members from all 43 Clubs and six Zones of the District, discussed the district’s achievements and shortcomings as well as the way forward.

The convention saw elections for various positions including First and Second Vice Governors, amendment to the Club’s Constitution, as well as awards for deserving Lions.

It was also characterised by a colourful flag raising ceremony for all the participating clubs, and the induction of new members.

Lions Club International District 418 – Ghana attained a provisional District status in June 2018 after it started in Ghana in 1987 and operated under the French under District 403.

Currently, the District is working to achieve full autonomy as it strives to hit the requires 1,250 membership mark.
Lion Hudson, in her acceptance speech, observed that inadequate membership was a major challenge facing the club and stressed the need to embark on a serious membership drive to shore up their numbers to achieve their goals.

“It is important to remind ourselves that serving the needy in society cannot be done by only a few people.

“We need to identify people who have that burning desire and the passion to serve to join us to serve society.”
She stressed that the membership drive was a collective responsibility and urged members to bring new people on board and work to retain them to enable Ghana to achieve the full district status.

She said the current membership strength was less than 1,200 but for them to achieve the full district status, they needed to reach 1,250 which they were hopeful of surpassing in the next month.

Lion Hudson pledged her commitment to build on the foundation of her predecessors to ensure continuity.
She added that the new leadership would ensure members undertook more leadership training programmes and committed to having a hundred per cent participation by Club Officer and Zone Chairpersons.

While commending the outgoing leadership for their exceptional achievements in service and its reporting, she said they would not relent on that effort.

“We will still work hard to maintain the level and go even further in undertaking services in our communities and report on them accordingly,” she assured.

With over 30 years in the media, she said she would leverage her experience and skills to bring more visibility to the club and its activities.

“We can change the world through our communities, our clubs and districts, through the very little, simple, modest and big things that we do,” she said.

Lion Gyimah, delivering the District Governor’s Report for the 2022-2023 Service Year, highlighted many achievements and some challenges in various areas including membership, leadership, and marketing.

Later in an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA), he explained that with a mission to serve the underprivileged in society, the club was primarily focused on vision, diabetes, childhood cancer, hunger relief and the environment.
He said everybody had the responsibility to ensure that the world became a better place and called on the public to join the club to help serve humanity.

Lion Gyimah touted some achievements of the Lions Club including the construction of the Korle Bu Eye Clinic which is serving Ghana and West Africa, water reservoir at the Pantang Hospital, and academic scholarships to the physically challenged.

“We have commissioned a project at the Sakumono Ramsar site, an ecological site which has been degraded by encroachers.

“We have planted some trees, desilted the lagoon, and we are going to ensure that the place becomes one of the best tourist attractions in Accra and in Ghana,” he added.