King of West African tribe returns to gardening job in Canada

Eric Manu returned to British Columbia to raise cash for his 6,000 strong tribe

Rebecca Flood
Tuesday 20 September 2016 12:32 BST
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The King of a West African tribe has returned to Canada to resume his job as a gardener – in order to raise money to provide healthcare for his new "subjects".

Eric Manu became royalty when his 67-year-old uncle, Dat, passed away last year.

After living in Canada for three years with his wife and small son, he moved back to southern Ghana to take up his birth right.

He said: “It’s a huge experience. You have to embrace it with passion.

“It’s something of my heritage, my culture, and traditions.”

But now the chief of the Akan tribe, located in the village of Adansi Aboabo no. 2, has returned to the North American country and taken his old job back.

(CTV NEWS

Moving back to British Columbia, he has returned to landscaping and gardening in the town in a bid to raise cash for his 6,000 strong tribe.

Mr Manu told CTV News: “Sometimes we go to the (job) site and they say, ‘You are the chief. I saw you on TV.

“Why are you doing the landscaping?’

“This is humbleness you understand. Anytime I’m in Canada, I’m proud to work for my boss.”

When he first moved his boss, Susan Watson, started a foundation called To The Moon and Back, which sent the young King off with a shipment full of school supplies, clothing, laptops and medical supplies.

(CTV NEWS

The owner of The Landscape Consultants, she travelled to Ghana for the ceremony, and said: “They're beautiful inside and out and they have absolutely nothing.

“And you come home here and most of us are miserable and we want something more.”

The money Mr Manu hopes to raise from his several month stay in Canada will be invested in improving healthcare, with the aim of returning with another shipment of equipment.

Ms Watson added: “The whole village was quite poor.

“The clinic only has a midwife and a few nurses. There is no doctor on site.”

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