At the invitation of Her Royal Majesty Nkunkuma Marie-Louise Zoa (Woman King) of the Kingdom of Okoa the African Roots and Heritage Foundation with staff and volunteers visited with the Royal Court, on Saturday, August 26, 2023 in the village of Soa which is situated in the Centre region of Cameroon.

The theme of the day was Women in Leadership: Women as the Guardians of African Traditions and Culture

The Executive Director, Professor Anita M. Diop, presented the Nkunkuma with a Certificate of Credential appointing HRM as the Cultural Ambassador of the Kingdom of Okoa to the African Roots and Heritage Foundation. Other gifts were exchanged to demonstrate goodwill between the two leaders.

Our purpose was twofold 1) to forge a partnership between ARHF and the Kingdom for the purpose of recording and valorizing their history and culture. This opportunity was also the official launch of the YCLPDP - Youth Cultural Language Preservation Discovery Program. 2) To create the research and documentation on women in leadership in a traditionally male run society.

The YCLPDP is coordinated by our Youth Coordinator, Dr. Ahmad Bello. Under his direction the youth volunteers are guided to conduct research on the Kingdom, highlighting the history, language, culture, methods of succession, governance and much more. With the data collected it is the will of ARHF to publish these findings for the public with the hope of developing a research center.

It was established in this meeting that as a gift and a high honor from the Royal Palace of Okoa that land is given to the African Roots and Heritage Foundation to build it's NATYTI - New African Thought Youth Training Institute and Research Center on the land next to the Pied dans l'eau (Feet in the Water) restaurant.