Kwakwaduam is the name given to any organized community of people of Akropong extraction resident outside Akropong. Kwakwaduam societies are found in most cities in the world with a significant population of people of Akropong heritage.
Originally, Kwakwaduam societies existed primarily to serve the interest of the stool of Akropong and were controlled from the palace at Akropong. As central government and organized religion pushed traditional authority to the periphery of significance in the lives of Ghanaians, the Kwakwaduam societies gained some measure of influence in palace affairs. Key figures from the Accra and Koforidua societies featured prominently in palace programmes at the height of this new-found influence in the 1970s and 1980s. As the Ghana's economic fortunes declined, large numbers of Ghanaians began to migrate abroad from the mid 1970s. Wherever these emigrants settled, the Akropong natives among them founded Kwakwaduam societies. There are active Kwakwaduam societies in the United Kingdom, North America and Europe. They have no direct affiliation with one another but have a common provenance in Akropong.
The New York society was started in the 1970s by natives of Akuapem State of which Akropong is the capital. It spawned several Ghanaian associations until 1998 when Obaapanyin Ama Oforiwa of blessed memory reconstituted it into the Kwakwaduam Association of New York.
The Kwakwaduam Association of New York is open to all people who value Akropong tradition and culture. Majority of the registered members do not have ancestral links to Akropong. It is very active at the heart of Ghanaian life in New York with links to other Ghananian associations and churches.
We host individuals and organizations with knowledge and expertise relevant to the Ghanaian experience in New York so our members can meet them, interact with them and be enlightened on how to make the most of their individual circumstances.
The human condition is central to the charitable activities of the Association. We are in the sixth year of our programme dubbed 'Supporting Maternal Care In Ghana' by which we have provided antenatal vitamins, foetal dopplers, birthing kits and a host of other medical supplies to midwives, health centers and clinics in Ghana. We have in the past funded the construction of boreholes in Akropong proper and the School For The Blind, also located in Akropong. We also provide token bursaries to children of members who gain admission to college.
The Kwakwaduam Association
1409 Webster Avenue
Bronx, NY 10456
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