Pognaa Salma Chaana Abdul-Razak (often called Chaana the Queen) first came to prominence as the Upper West regional delegate on TV3’s Ghana’s Most Beautiful pageant. In 2015 she was enstooled as the Paramount Pognaa (queenmother) of the Sing Traditional Area (Wa, Upper West), a role in which she has forged a new path combining modern advocacy with tradition. Indeed, media note her ten-year reign as “a journey defined by grace, resilience and unwavering dedication to culture”. Chaana herself declares, “I am proud of my roots, my culture and my traditions,” and she often frames her leadership as service to future generations.
Chaana parlayed her pageant fame into a platform for heritage. In interviews and on TV, she routinely urges Ghanaians of all ages to reclaim northern customs. For example, ahead of the 2020 centenary Damba/Dumba Festival in Wa she personally invited “friends and family around the globe… to take a trip to the Upper West Region” and witness this “colourful and memorable” event. Pulse Ghana describes her as a “beauty queen who doubles as a health practitioner, humanitarian, and entrepreneur”, reflecting how she blends pageant poise with public service. Even while advocating community causes, she proudly appears as a cultural emissary: Ghanaian outlets note that among Upper West’s “true African queens… beautiful in and out,” Chaana stands out as an emblem of Wala heritage.
In the markets and streets of Wa, local foods and fabrics abound, Chaana highlights in speeches and posts as living heritage. She repeatedly stresses that Ghana’s identity is tied to its indigenous culture, famously urging: “we… must go back to our indigenous meals… because food is culture”. In practice she names northern Ghanaian dishes – dawadawa jollof, tumpaani, tuo zaafi with johjoh soup and others – as worthy staples. “These meals sustained earlier generations, contributing to strength, longevity and productivity,” she notes, warning that they “should not be abandoned”. In rallying parents, Chaana warns, “we must not allow our children… to fail in upholding our culture simply because we failed”. In her recent decade anniversary address she even framed traditional diets as public health policy: “It is time to eat our food as medicine, not our medicine as food,” she insisted. By connecting cuisine to identity and wellbeing, Chaana’s message resonates across Ghana: media report she has been a “vocal advocate for cultural preservation” and national unity, especially among youth.
Beyond culture and cuisine, Chaana leverages her position for social impact. The Ghana News Agency notes that in 2025 she joined the advisory board of the Nana Kwesi Osew Foundation, a new NGO for youth empowerment. In that role she helps champion education, vocational training and enterprise for Northern Ghana’s young people. Locally, as the Sing Pognaa she undertakes community outreach typical of modern queenmothers, for instance, mobilizing relief for flood victims or leading health education. Chaana is a trained nurse and a humanitarian who trains and mentors women and youth entrepreneurs. In speeches she has encouraged Ghanaians working in Accra and abroad to return home during festivals or to invest in regional development. Community members praise her “youthful leadership” coupled with a strong commitment to tradition, seeing her as a bridge between Wa’s rural customs and Ghana’s modern future.
Chaana’s public image also conveys her roots through style. In public appearances and her Instagram (@chaanathequeen), she often wears northern Ghanaian regalia, layered beads, colorful woven textiles, and headties drawn from Wala and Muslim traditions. Even down to jewelry, her look combines contemporary flair with cultural symbols. Chaana’s social posts likewise celebrate local artisans, markets and cuisine, her handle @chaanathequeen is followed by hundreds who see in her a keeper of heritage.
Through pageantry, traditional authority and media, Pognaa Chaana has become a notable figure of cultural diplomacy. She has taken the spotlight of a national beauty contest and redirected it to spotlight Upper Ghanaian traditions. By blending modern influence with indigenous values, she embodies a message that Ghana’s future can be forged with respect for the past. As one observer put it, Chaana’s tenure is “not just a celebration of longevity in office, but a reminder of the enduring relevance of traditional institutions in shaping culture, health and national identity”. In short, this former beauty queen turned queenmother uses every platform: TV, community forums, and Instagram to stitch Ghana’s threads of history into its contemporary tapestry.