Founding History
Honouring Intangible Wisdom, Empowering Transformation Today
The Afrika Centre for Intangible Phenomena Studies (ACIPS) is a registered Non-Profit Organisation based in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. ACIPS is a pioneering African research institution committed to reviving, exploring, and applying Africa’s intangible, spiritual, and metaphysical knowledge systems. Rooted in the philosophies of Sankofa and Afrocentricity, the Centre serves as a platform for scholarly inquiry, ancestral restoration, and community-based transformation.
The idea for ACIPS was born in 2018, in Harare, Zimbabwe, during a profound period of reflection and intellectual engagement by the Founder, Bernard Nyarko Owusu-Sekyere. While residing in Zimbabwe for nine months, he immersed himself in the cultural pulse of a country historically rich in African pride and intellectual resistance. It was here that he drafted a comprehensive concept paper outlining a visionary institution that would reclaim Africa’s hidden spiritual legacies, restore its broken memory systems, and reposition African knowledge within the global sphere.
This dream was anchored in the timeless African philosophy of Sankofa—an Akan expression meaning "go back and fetch it". For Mr. Owusu-Sekyere, this meant not only recovering the spiritual and metaphysical technologies of African ancestors but also reigniting the self-transforming capacity of African people through knowledge ownership, dignity, and development.
With the initial concept refined and the spiritual intent matured, the Centre was formally registered in February 2022 with the assistance of two devoted collaborators: Mr. Lulekile Isaac Magazolo and Mr. Sizwe Bongathini Zondo. These men became Founding Trustees, referred to within ACIPS as Guardians of the Vision. Their role was not symbolic—they contributed institutional integrity, and ensuring the dream became a legally recognised entity under South African law.
In 2024, the founder approached Madam Ntombi Mabindisa to activate the Centre. She accepted the role of Manager and provided pivotal financial support, including covering operational costs and later donating R500 to open the Centre’s FNB account in July 2025. Her leadership brought ACIPS into full functionality, earning her a place of honour in the Nanahenewaa-Wangari-Ntombikayise ePublications.
That same year, ACIPS launched its premium website and established visibility on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Through these platforms, ACIPS began issuing regular newsletters and updates, solidifying its presence in the public domain.
The Director undertook significant travel across Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, including academic visits to the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Zambia. These journeys, supported by the Manager’s contributions, served as strategic and spiritual pilgrimages, establishing future collaborative pathways.
In July 2025, following the recommendation of Baba Menzi KaGudu Maseko, ACIPS began developing a research collaboration with the Durban University of Technology (DUT), focusing on African spirituality and indigenous knowledge systems.
Alongside the Trustee Board, two key committees were established: the Funding/Finance Committee and the Events Committee. ACIPS is now in the process of appointing a Community Outreach Coordinator and invites researchers, fielders, and spiritual scholars to volunteer or become patrons of this expanding vision.
With the guidance of Dr. Baba Buntu, Baba Menzi KaGudu Maseko joined the Board of Trustees in 2025. Known for his scholarship on Ntu metaphysics and his appearances on podcasts exploring African cosmology, Baba Menzi became a key voice in shaping ACIPS's metaphysical focus.
He later introduced Miss Tendayi Muteerwa, an expert in African women’s epistemologies, who became the first female Trustee. Mrs. Thabile Shelembe-Mtsahe, with a background in project management and indigenous systems, also joined the Board.
Miss Yandani Mlilo, a Harare-based entrepreneur, assumed the role of Research Coordinator for African Creative Arts, while Miss Sibulelo Madondo (Gogo Zanemvula) became Coordinator for African Metaphysics and Development Research, bringing spiritual grounding to our research core.
The intellectual foundation of ACIPS is articulated in Mr. Owusu-Sekyere’s article: “African Transformation in the 21st Century: An Agenda without Ethos?”. He writes:
“Knowledge is indeed the spirit and character that shape revolutions which transform and alter societies positively by turning the self-transforming mode on.”
ACIPS affirms that transformation must embrace both tangible and intangible knowledge dimensions. In reclaiming the latter, the Centre plays a vital role in reactivating African civilisational consciousness.
ACIPS envisions itself as a gift to Africa and the Diaspora. Its mission is to reposition African spirituality, ancestral technologies, and metaphysical traditions as valid and vital to local development and global evolution. As the world shifts into new paradigms—ecological, interstellar, and post-industrial—ACIPS ensures Africa speaks from a place of wisdom, rootedness, and cosmic awareness.