A Welcome Address By Mr. Eric Seddy Kutortse, Executive Chairman Of The First Sky Group, At The 19th Annual Thanksgiving Service Of The Group

YOUR EXCELLENCY, THE PREIDENT, REPUBLIC OF GHANA, NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO – ADDO, REPRESENTED BY THE MINISTER FOR SANITATION & WATER RESOURCES, HON. CECICLIA ABENA DAPAAH

HER EXCELLENCY, THE VICE PRESIDENT, REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA, DR. JEWEL HOWARD TAYLOR

HIS LORDSHIP, JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF GHANA, JUSTICE JONES DOSTE

THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD CHURCH, GHANA AND CHAIRMAN FOR TODAY’S THANKSGIVING SERVICE, REV. PROF. PAUL FRIMPONG MANSO,

THE GUEST SPEAKER – FOUNDER & GENERAL OVERSEER OF THE CHRISTIAN ACTION FAITH MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL, HIS EMINENCE ARCHBISHOP NICHOLAS DUNCAN WILLIAMS

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN OF THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST, REV PROF. KWADWO OPOKU ONYINAH,

THE HEAD PASTOR OF TRINITY TEMPLE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD CHURCH, TEMA, REV. DR. SYLVANUS AMEGASHITI – ELORM,

DISTINGUISHED MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL

HONOURABLE MINISTERS OF STATE AND MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

CEOS OF STATE INSTITUTIONS

TORGBUIWO, MAMAWO,

NANANOM, NII ME, NAA ME,

MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF THE FIRST SKY GROUP,

MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA,

FAMILY MEMBERS

FRIENDS

FELLOW WORSHIPPERS,

DISTINGUSHED LADIES AND GENTELEMEN

1. Beloved in Christ, Good morning and Praise the name of the Most High God for this day. It is my singular honour once again to welcome you all to today’s special thanksgiving service, which also marks nineteen glorious years of the existence of the First Sky Group. Permit me to express my deepest appreciation to you all for your continued presence at this annual thanksgiving. Truly, we at the First Sky Group feel honoured to have you stand with us to acknowledge God for His faithfulness and abundant grace towards us all.
2. Mr. Chairman, invited guests, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, may I also hasten on behalf of Management and Staff of all subsidiaries of the First Sky Group, to extend our very best wishes of a happy and prosperous New Year to you.
3. The dawn of a New Year always triggers wells of joy, praise and gratitude within our hearts in utter expression of adoration to God for how far His compassion and love have been with us throughout the preceding Year. Brothers and Sisters, for nothing at all we are alive. And, on this, I confidently urge us all to leverage the opportunity offered by this thanksgiving ceremony not only to thank Him but also be expectant that we will not leave this place the same. We will be renewed and refreshed with oil for the year ahead of us.
4. The theme for today’s thanksgiving, taken from John 1:16 – “OUT OF GOD’S ABUNDANCE, WE HAVE RECEIVED GRACE UPON GRACE”. As a Christian business entity, we acknowledge the Grace of God as the underlying factor in our successes over the years. As we put our vision and dreams on paper in our Business Plans every year, we seek the Grace of the Lord for divine wisdom and insight in all our operations.
5. God’s Grace is an enabling power, helping us to do what we do, and to do what we cannot do by our own strength and ability. It also helps us to do things beyond ourselves and excel in things beyond our own means. Ladies and gentlemen, we all need such an enabling power in our lives. We, at First Sky Group always draw our inspiration from Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:10 that (QUOTE) “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (END QUOTE).
6. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to announce that as a result of God’s Grace, the First Sky Group has birthed a new subsidiary – First Sky Energies Limited – which is a new frontier company established to take its rightful place in the energy economy of Ghana.  The First Sky Group is convinced that our entry into the energy ecosystem will provide us yet another huge platform to contribute our quota to the development of our nation through prompt payment of taxes, creation of new jobs that offer avenues for skills development and above all improve the living standards of the citizenry.
7. As I indicated last year, since the Covid 19 pandemic struck the world, its devastating effects on businesses has been telling and First Sky Group was no exception. But, I am pleased to share the good news that, to date we have not lost any member of staff, not a single member of staff has been laid off nor was there any pay cut in the wages or salaries of staff, rather our numerical strength kept increasing. Currently, our Group staff strength stands at 5,300 comprising permanent, casual, direct and indirect employees.
8. Mr. Chairman, the progress made by all subsidiaries of the First Sky Group, namely First Sky Construction Limited, First Sky Bitumen Processing Limited, First Sky Commodities Limited, Volta Serene Hotel, Serene Insurance Limited and Frerol Rural Bank clearly show the manifestation of God’s presence in the affairs of the Group.
9. Mr. Chairman, the First Sky Group believes that our existence as a business entity and the blessings we receive are meant to first support the business of God’s Kingdom and bring relief to humanity, the poor and needy. It is this conviction that has driven the First Sky Group to religiously invest in various charitable initiatives over the last 19 years as directed by the Lord. The Group does all of these in recognition of God’s abundant favour towards us.
10. Ladies and gentlemen, as you may recall, in the year 2017, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, the First Sky Group decided to support the Dialysis Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra by paying off all the medical bills of all patients at the facility, and instituted free dialysis for our brothers and sisters who frequent the Unit as patients. But for our intervention, it is fair to say, that many beneficiaries would have either lost their lives or would have been incapacitated by challenges with their kidney dysfunction. Since the inception of the programme to date, the First Sky Group has spent Twenty Million Ghana Cedis (GH¢20,000,000.00) on the Free Dialysis Project.
11. As a permanent solution for the patients still facing this unfortunate predicament, our experts have advised that kidney transplant services will provide a lasting remedy. That is why the First Sky Group in collaboration with a team of kidney specialists and transplant surgeons from Transplant Links UK based in Birmingham, sponsored free kidney transplantation in Ghana for four patients with kidney failures.
12. To escalate our support, the First Sky Group is sponsoring the establishment and operationalisation of a modern Kidney Transplant Centre in Ghana, believed to be first of its kind in West Africa, to serve patients within the country and the sub-region who otherwise would have been flown to India, South Africa or elsewhere for medical attention.
13. While the First Sky Group focuses on the completion of the Kidney Transplant Centre this year, and because we continue to receive high volumes of requests for support from several medical facilities over the country, we are in the interim appealing to the Government to consider making at least two sessions of dialysis, a part of the medical services covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme. This is achievable because partial coverage of dialysis treatment cost is being practiced in other counties including Kenya and South Africa. It is my hope that you will consider this suggestion as it will improve the quality of life of these patients, majority of whom are young, economically productive group of the Ghanaian society and who can potentially be integrated back into society with adequate treatment.
14. Turning now to our support for the business of God’s kingdom, the First Sky Group will complete work on the five (5) church auditoriums earmarked last year (Fofulso in the Ashanti Region and four others) and any other as directed by the Lord. Kindly permit me to assure you Mr. Chairman, that in all of these efforts, we will continue to uphold our integrity and honour to our God in all our business dealings.
15. The First Sky Group is firmly convinced that our God has kept his word and through the abundance of His grace, He has brought to manifestation His prophecy to us.
16. Before resuming my seat, Mr. Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, may I once again welcome and thank you all for your presence here today.  Your presence means so much to us.
17. May God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.
18. THANK YOU AND ENJOY THE SERVICE