
 
 Jeff Lagerquist, CTVNews.ca 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vancouver residents looking to hire some landscaping help this fall could end up with royalty tending to their hedges and bagging up leaves. 
 
 Eric Manu, a Langley, B.C. man who was crowned chief of the Akan tribe in the village of Adansi Aboabo No. 2 in southern Ghana last year, has returned to Canada for a few months, where he is resuming his job as a landscaper. 
 
 “Sometimes we go to the (job) site and they say, ‘You are the chief. I saw you on TV. Why are you doing the landscaping?’” he told CTV News. “This is humbleness you understand. Anytime I’m in Canada, I’m proud to work for my boss.” 
 
 Manu, 32, moved to B.C. in 2012 after marrying a Canadian woman he met in Ghana. But his uncle, who had served as chief of the tribe, died two years ago, placing Manu next in line for the honour. 
 
 Hanging up his crown, even temporarily, isn’t a decision Manu takes lightly. He’s using his time in Canada to raise money to improve the health care standards for his tribe of 6,000. 
 
 Manu and his Canadian boss Susan Watson started a foundation that packed a shipping container with medical supplies, school supplies, and clothing that arrived in Ghana this spring. The To the Moon and Back Foundation hopes to continue raising money and donations to send a second shipment and improve the local medical clinic. 
 
 “The whole village was quite poor. The clinic only has a midwife and a few nurses. There is no doctor on site,” said Watson. 
 
 -With files from CTV Vancouver 

 Last year, Eric Manu left his landscaping job in Langley to take his rightful place as the crowned chief of a West African tribe. 
 
 But now he's back in the Lower Mainland to help his Akan tribe in Ghana improve their lives by working, once again, as a landscaper and sending money back. 
 
 "The [Ghanaian] government wasn't really concentrating on those villages, cottages or hinterlands. Their focus was mainly in the cities. And that was really, really, really disturbing," he told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn. 
 
 "They were having challenges with their borehole water system, electricity, telecommunications network … the hospital, poor facilities." 
 
 Manu will also be looking for philanthropic gifts and partnerships while in Canada. 
 
 'I feel like I am for the people' 
 
 Manu moved to Canada in 2012, but inherited the position of chief when his uncle died at age 67 in 2015. 
 
 Eric Manu says being the chief of his tribe has made him more mature. (CBC) 
 
 He says being in the position has made him "serious and flexible": serious when administering his tribe but flexible enough to adapt to what his people need. 
 
 "I feel like I am for the people and I'm accountable and responsible and they look up to me," he said. "It makes me a totally changed person." 
 
 "I feel more mature. It gives me a broadened idea and mind to think far and accept people, irrespective of who they are. Either young or old, physically challenged or able. Everybody." 
 
 Manu says he has had to be a strong advocate when dealing with the Ghanaian government. He was able to get the country's vice president to look at the conditions of the village, he says, adding it was an eye-opening experience for the politician. 
 
 He says after living in Canada, he wants to make sure everyone thrives in his community. 
 
 "I really want my home, my village, to be 'Second Canada,'" he said. 
 
 With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast 
 
 To hear the full story, click the audio labelled: The Return of the King: B.C. landscaper crowned African chief returns to Canada
– Eric Manu moved from Ghana to British Columbia in 2012 after marrying a Canadian woman he'd met at home, and he began to work as a landscaper. But his uncle, who had served as chief of their tribe, died a few years ago at age 67, and Manu was next in line to lead his people. So he returned to the village of Adansi Aboabo No. 2 in southern Ghana last year to be crowned the chief of the Akan tribe, where he leads 6,000 people, reports CTV News. Now Manu is back in Canada for a few months to continue his work landscaping—and says he is "proud to work for my boss" and that "this is humbleness, you understand." He's also raising money to improve conditions for his people, who are currently served by a single medical clinic with a few nurses. Manu and his landscaping boss have started a foundation called To the Moon and Back to send medical and school supplies to Ghana, and they are raising money for a second shipment. Manu tells the CBC that since being crowned he is a "totally changed person" who wants to "think far and accept people, irrespective of who they are. Either young or old, physically challenged or able. Everybody." (Manu and his wife have a toddler and plan to split their time between homes.)