About us
who we are
Rashid Iddrisu
WIACT is an indigenous institute currently working in rural northern Ghana. Its headquarters are in Sawla, Savannah Region. Rashid Iddrisu founded the institute in 2019 to:
- reconnect African young people to their natural heritage and ancestral identities
- help indigenous Africans find exciting opportunities at home instead of trying to migrate to Europe
- preserve African indigenous cultures, traditional knowledge, and native languages
- recover our true histories
what we do
WIACT works with diverse tribes and ethnic groups in communities across Savannah Region to overcome the slow disasters that started with the colonial era. Colonials and missionaries replaced:
- our languages with English
- our unity among our traditional areas and tribes
- our traditional governance
- our customary land tenure arrangements
- principles of reciprocity in our interactions with other species in the natural environment, and
- our traditional spiritual understandings with religions of Europe & the Middle East.
We believe that African cultural traditions and knowledge are valuable--they sustained our people through millennia and enabled us to survive comfortably with others, including other species and waters in our local biomes. Our cultures offer important ideas to address global disasters across the globe, including how to live sustainably with others in communities of place. We understand that relationships and diverse knowledges are critical.
Therefore, our vision is to make a new, appreciative story of Africa that retains ancestral connections--an African renaissance.
our staff, volunteers, and Advisors
Rashid Abubakar Iddrisu, Founder/CEO, Executive Council Member
Kong Wura Seidu Adamu Jinkurge I, Executive Council Member
Buipe Wura Abdulai Jinapor II Executive Council Member
Sawla Wura Iddrisu Abdulai Nugbaso, Executive Council Member
Tinga Wura Seidu Sampson, Executive Council Member and Advisor for Accounting
Asamoah Kontinantey, Logistics Coordinator
Kayla Mitchell, Volunteer Social Media Developer
Adams Jeduah, Consultant for Education
Adisa Iddrisu Wari, Workshop & Events Coordinator
Karim Lange, Volunteer Logistics Coordinator in Accra
Chief Dauda Abubakari, Advisor for Language Documentation
Vanessa, Volunteer Programs Assistant
International Advisor, funders
Our international advisor Mette Brogden, Ph.D., is a cultural and medical anthropologist and a professor of human rights practice at University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
We are grateful to have received funding assistance from:
- University of Arizona's RII international grants and RISE Internships
- Wenner Gren Foundation, New York
- CEHDA, Spain
- Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD), Catalonia, Spain
- And donors from the U.S. and Europe