Honoring A Founding Member - Belinda Afi Okudzeto, Ghanaian Diaspora Pioneer in Stockholm, Dies at 74 (Founding Treasurer of Ghana Union Stor-Stockholm) - By Kofi Sapathy

Friends, family, colleagues, and members of the Ghanaian community gathered on Friday, 23 January 2026, at Liljans Kapell, Råcksta Begravningsplats, to bid a final farewell to Belinda Afi Okudzeto, an early Ghanaian settler in Stockholm and a founding figure in the organization of Ghanaian community life in Sweden. She was 74.

The late Belinda Okudzeto was the first Treasurer of the Ghana Union in Stockholm.

Belinda Okudzeto was born in 1951 in Adidome, in what was then the Gold Coast. She was raised by her grandmother, to whom she was deeply attached. After completing her elementary education in Adidome, she moved in her late teens to Accra, where she lived with one of her elder brothers.

In 1972, at the age of 21, she left Ghana to work as an au pair in Denmark, marking the beginning of a life shaped by migration and resilience. Two years later, in 1974, she relocated to Malmö, Sweden. She was then just 22 years old. In 1980, she moved to Stockholm, at a time when the African—and particularly Black—population in the city was small and tightly bound by shared experience. It was an era, many recall, when Africans acknowledged one another with a simple nod when passing on the street.

Belinda Okudzeto was present at the historic 1983 meeting in Tumba where a group of Ghanaians resolved to form what would become Ghana Union Stor-Stockholm (GUSS). At that meeting, she was elected as the Union’s first Treasurer, helping to lay the financial and administrative foundations of the organization. Though she later became less active in the Union’s day-to-day affairs, she remained a founding member, and her contribution forms part of GUSS’s enduring institutional history.

Throughout her working life in Stockholm, Belinda Okudzeto was known for her strong work ethic, at times juggling two or three jobs. She worked continuously until her retirement in 2018, after which she returned to Ghana, while continuing to make occasional visits to Sweden.

Shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic, she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare and progressive neurodegenerative disease. At the time, the illness had gained increased public attention in Sweden following the deaths of ice-hockey legend Börje Salming and journalist Ulla-Carin Lindquist. It was the same condition suffered by the late British physicist Stephen Hawking.

Despite the physical toll of the disease, Belinda Okudzeto retained her humour and sharp intellect until her death on 26 December 2025. Her long-time friend in Stockholm, Kofi Akosah, who regarded her as an elder sister, travelled from Ghana and was at her side when she passed.

Those who knew her remember Belinda Okudzeto as vibrant, self-assured, and intellectually curious. She was widely read and rarely caught unprepared in conversation, and was known for her love of debate—earning her the affectionate nickname “the Pocket Psychologist.”

Honoring a founding member means more than just saying thank you. It involves recognizing their lasting impact and showing appreciation in meaningful ways. Here are some ideas:

The funeral service concluded with Sting’s “Every Breath You Take,” after which mourners approached the coffin to lay flowers in quiet tribute. Among those in attendance were her elder brother, the prominent Ghanaian lawyer and politician Samuel Okudzeto, and her nephew Lawrence Okudzeto, who both travelled from Ghana to be present.

Lawyer Samuel Okudzeto and Lawrence Okudzeto.

Belinda Afi Okudzeto is remembered for her independence, intellect, and quiet but lasting contribution to the early Ghanaian diaspora in Stockholm. Her life remains part of the foundation upon which later generations continue to build.