The City Council of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, has named a bridge after a Ghanaian Nana Yaa Adu-Ampoma.
This is to acknowledge her contributions towards the economic empowerment of immigrants in the Netherlands.
Until it was named after her, the bridge was known informally as Reigersbospadbrug.
Another Ghanaian national, Sam Owusu, started the call for the city authorities to honour th late Ghanaian. He led a team of Ghanaians and Dutch nationals who believed that Nana Yaa had contributed greately to the city and therefore needed to be recognised.
In giving reasons why Nana Yaa should be honoured, the petitioners said that she brought some level of passion into the social life of the community she served, i.e. helping to form the Stichting Sikaman that served as a support system for Ghanaians living in The Netherlands. Yaa Adu-Ampoma also entreated women in the immigrant community to take on income-generating activities.
They also stated that she mobilised Ghanaians/Africans together during the El Al plane crash in the populated Bijlmer flats in October 1992, which killed many people, mainly immigrants of African descent.
The petitioners also credited her for organising various Ghanaian/African groups to handle the housing needs of victims of the air disaster, and she took an active part in locating those who could not be accounted for.
Nana Yaa Adu-Ampoma is the first African immigrant to sit in the municipal councillor in Amsterdam Zuidoost. She supported the immigrant community in various ways. She died in 2000.
She was very much concerned about the majority of the population whose income levels were very low and unable to save for their future and was very much optimistic that women undertaking entrepreneurship will help address the income disparity.
The District Administrator from the city Vayhishta Miskin, who was present at the ceremony to honour her, said, “A bridge represents connection. And Nana Yaa Adu-Ampong was a real connector. One that built bridges within and beyond the Ghanaian community. One that stands for an inclusive Southeast. I am honoured to unveil this bridge in her memory.”
