Kantanka: A life of faith, innovation and compassion

By Peter Martey Agbeko

In the quiet dawn of Thursday, September 11, 2025, Ghana lost a titan—Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo Kantanka, also known simply as “Kantanka, the African Star.” At 77, he passed away peacefully, leaving behind a legacy that spanned far beyond pulpit sermons.

Although I never met the man in person, his imprint on our nation is one I cannot ignore: in innovation, agriculture, church life, and a boundless dedication to those in need. Here is a tribute to a life lived with grit, purpose, and an unshakeable faith in what Ghana—and Africa—could become.

Humble Beginnings, Bold Vision

Born on August 26, 1948, in Bom, near Kensere in the Ashanti Region, Safo Kantanka’s life was shaped by both humble origins and audacious dreams. He founded the Kristo Asafo Mission—a movement that would grow to be as much about faith as it was about creating self-reliance.

From early on, he held a conviction that the Gospel should heal more than souls—it should uplift minds, bodies, communities. This conviction would guide everything he did, from building churches to building cars.

A Church That Built Industries

Kristo Asafo was no ordinary church. Under Apostle Safo, the church morphed into a hybrid: faith community, industrial research centre, school, and farm. The philosophy was strikingly simple: faith without works was insufficient; belief should be accompanied by action—action tangible enough to change lives materially.

By the 1980s, during droughts and hardship, Kristo Asafo was feeding the hungry, giving shelter, and building hope. The church would not merely preach about caring for widows and orphans—it built programmes around those words. Housing, clothing, medical help, education were regular pillars of his ministry.

Innovation: Ghana’s Home-Grown Technology

Perhaps most remarkable is how Apostle Safo married faith with engineering. He founded Kantanka Automobile, seeking to produce vehicles suited to Ghanaian and African terrain.

Among his inventions:

• The Kantanka Saloon (1998), the Kantanka Onantefo I and II (4×4 vehicles), and the 26-foot limousine called “Obrempon”
• A range of gadgets: flat-screen sensor televisions, devices switched on or off with the clap of hands; sewing and embroidery machines crafted with local materials; household appliances with human-sensor taps; and exhaustively creative industrial machines like mobile block-moulding machines.
• A technology centre in Gomoa-Mpota where students—from Senior High through university—were trained free of charge, particularly in technology and practical engineering fields.

These were not empty gestures. They were statements: that Ghana could build its own tools, that Ghanaian hands could engineer, not merely consume. That innovation need not be imported luxury—it could be home-grown, adapted, relevant.

The Land, the Farm, the Soil

Apostle Kantanka’s work in agriculture was no mere sideline—it was central to his vision. He believed organic, indigenous crops, traditional healing herbs, and earth-friendly farming were essential not only for health, but for identity and sustainability.

Some highlights:

• Large organic farms at Gomoa Odembo and other sites, growing vegetables, root tubers, herbs, garden eggs, carrots, tomatoes—all without harsh chemical preservatives.
• Experiments with climate-smart agricultural methods: deeper planting, indigenous seeds, preserving nearly-lost varieties of crops.
• Animal husbandry, fish farming, snail breeding, cattle and sheep ranches. His agricultural empire reached across multiple communities.
• Infrastructure to support farming: building water reservoirs, dams, wells so that communities could have reliable water even in dry seasons.

Philanthropy: The Gentleness in Strength

If innovation was his sword, philanthropy was his garment of compassion.

Apostle Safo was known for generous, hands-on giving. Some of his philanthropic works included:

• Free clothing and food distributions to widows, vulnerable persons, traditional leaders. On his birthday, especially, entire communities would benefit from his gifts.
• Scholarships, vocational trainings, and entrepreneur-assistance: many young Ghanaians were helped to gain skills, start businesses, and avoid dependency.
• Housing and community infrastructure: building rent-free houses, drilling boreholes, free wells, assistance to social welfare centres, prisons, orphanages.
• Healthcare initiatives: a herbal pharmaceuticals and research centre, traditional medicine, hospital facilities; promoting traditional herbal healthcare alongside more formal structures.

Challenges, Contradictions, and Courage

No visionary life is without friction. Skeptics questioned the practicality of some of his inventions. Critics asked how many of the “made in Ghana” parts were truly local; whether his bold claims always matched reality. But what stands out is that he never backed down. Where infrastructure, financing, or official support lagged, he pressed on. He appealed to governments, he trained people, he showed what could be done with belief, grit, and creativity.

The Legacy Ties

Even as he has passed, many of the seeds he planted bear fruit:

• Cultural inspiration: Kantanka has become more than a brand. It is a symbol. A reminder that African excellence, innovation, and faith can combine. Many local entrepreneurs look to his example.
• Institutional structures: The Great KOSA group companies, the technology centres, the farms continue. Skills, networks, knowledge remain.
• Communities transformed: Through water projects, schools, churches, vocational training—countless Ghanaians have had their lives made better. For many, his death is indeed personal, even if they never saw him face to face.

A Man of Faith, Hope & Humility

Perhaps what moves me most, though, is that despite all he built, ApostIe Kantanka saw his work as service—not self-glory. Even in his final statements, he is described by family not merely as “industrialist, inventor, entrepreneur” but as “a gallant son, beacon of hope, father to the fatherless.”  He often reminded people that philanthropy is not his mission on earth. His mission—to redeem Africa, to restore dignity to its people, through faith, through creativity, through work.

What We, Who Never Met Him, Owe

Though I never shook his hand, heard one of his sermons in person or walked his farms, I have—like many—benefited from what he stood for. His life asks us:

• To believe not only in faith but in action.
• To pursue self-reliance, not dependency.
• To see science, technology and the soil as worthy ways to worship God.
• To care for the vulnerable—because compassion is never secondary.

Final Thoughts

As Ghana, as Africa, we mourn the passing of Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo Kantanka. But we also celebrate. For he showed us a path: faith infused with invention; love expressed in labour; service measured in lives uplifted. His voice may have gone quiet; his hands may rest. But his example echoes—and will continue to echo—for generations.

In dying, he has not left a void only. He leaves a map. And for that, we give thanks—remembering that the truest legacy is not what one patents or what one publishes, but what one gives away: hope, dignity, possibility.

May his soul rest, and may his vision flourish.

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