Otumfuo Nana Prempeh II

Those were the days when prospective pupils to secondary schools were vended in a national convention of Heads of Secondary Schools at the Colonial Headquarters of Education in Accra.

The bidding begins when a child's credentials are displayed on the platform, with the pupil's first choice making a statement on the selection or rejection of the candidate. The Education Officers would querry: "Candidate 1 selects School A with 300 marks. School A, do you want Candidate 1?" When School A Headmaster responds "Nay," School B Representative will be asked the same question. If School B, it goes to the turn of the next school and the cylce repeats until the candidate is accepted or rejected by all the schools. "Candidate 2 selects School C. Does School C want him?", the Education Officer will ask. It goes in succession until all the best candidates in the nation that year are selected. After the selection of the best 1000 students by the nine Headmasters, the unlucky 19, 000 are sent home to pursue other options.

During this era, there was no secondary school in Asante except Wesley Training College, which had been in existence since 1924, providing a girls' boarding school program for primary school.

The King drew a gloomy picture of the state of education in the country and decided that something had to be done.

Nana Prempeh & Rev. Pearson on campus in the early years.

So, Sidney Pearson, with his wife by his side, travelled to the whilom Gold Coast on the West Coast of Africa to answer "their calling."

Rev. Pearson was an Assistant Headmaster at Mfantsipim when he was recruited by the most powerful figure in the nation at that time, The King of the Asante Kingdom of Ghana - Otumfuo Sir Nana Osei Agyemang Prempeh II. The foreigner struck a very unique friendship with the all-powerful Sir Prempeh II....and Prempeh College was born!

When Rev. Pearson returned from Kintampo another site had been found inside Kumasi, where there were many temporary buildings. A military hospital was housed there. The King took Pearson to the school's site. When they got there, His Majesty said, "there it is." Pearson replied, "but it's a field with a little wooden building." The King smiled and answered, "yes, you're here to build the school." "All I could do was just stand there with my hands on my hips thinking what I have I got myself into," a surprised Pearson recalls.

Otumfuo Opoku Ware II's coronation as Asantehene in 1970

Before the architects, Maxwell Frye and Jane Drew were hired to build the school, the King's nephew - a professional surveyor by the name Mathew Opoku - had taken on the task of surveying the land for the Golden School. Having been ordered by his uncle The King to survey the land, the heir apparent Mathew Opoku, infused with the most singular humility, moilingly and operosely did the field work himself! He could have put his hands in his pocket by ordering lesser men to do it. Eye witnesses recall an amazingly compliant future King toiling in the Sofoline sun...in a scene remniscent of the glorious biblical days when the Prophets used to come down on their marrowbones and seek guidance from their Creator, for the good of humanity!!!

During the survey exercise by the latter-day King Opoku Ware II something happened: "Hey Surveyor what the hell are you doing there?" yelled some tall Army Colonels. Nana Opoku Ware displaying "ahobreasie" (humility) and masculine bravery, did not mind them but continued his work with undiminished firmness. "Hey Mr. Surveyor, I say who authorized you here and what in the hell do you think you are doing? Otumfuo did not mind them but continued the assignment his uncle had given him. Then came the soldiers to confront the future king. Whereupon, he explained that his Uncle, the King had ordered him to do that job. Quickly the Army officers drove to the King's Palace. Nana Sir Prempeh II made it clear to them that he had embarked that land for a First Class School!

A statue of Nana Opoku Ware II on campus

Prempeh College is well endowed with land, which is owned by the Bantamahene. In fact, of the Colleges 8.5 million net usable square feet of floor space, approximately 1 million net usable square feet are used for the following: academic, dormitory, staff residence space, a school farm and the largest sports complex in Ghana - 2 FIFA size soccer pitches, a hockey pitch, another FIFA size (125m length x 75 m width) unused space which used to serve as cricket pitch in the old days, and a basketball and tennis courts. The bucolic nature of the tall coconut trees leading from a very special corner of the school gate to the Sports Stadium and the Barracks surpasses the world famous Aburi Gardens. The many-hived, flora and fern, and the green and golden flowers blooming gaily with the rising sun is second only to Gods created Eden!

The school has land stretching from the Kwadaso River Junction through Adoato, Abrepo, Sofoline and Bantama. One school...it is situated in five towns! In fact, Neoplan Bus Headquarters occupies part of Prempeh land. The Military Barracks also occupies a part of Prempeh's pastoral universe. The campus is so vast that it occupies exactly the same acreage as the Biblical city of Jericho!

A sculpure of Rev. Pearson on the campus dedicated to him by the Pioneer Class to commemorate the Golden Jubilee in 1999

The opening ceremony which took place in open air symbolized a fruitful co-operation between the Manhyia Palace/Kumasi Traditional Council, the Methodist and Presbyterian churches and the central government. Major C.O.Butler, the chief commissioner of Ashanti, addressing some 400 guests at the ceremony said: "There is a great and growing need for training men to take up post of responsibility not only just as clerks in offices, but in agriculture, engineering and many other technical appointments on the filling of which the future development of Ashanti and the Gold Coast depends. This country is yours and we the British from overseas are only here to help you ultimately administer the country yourselves, but you can never be independent of outside help until you yourself can provide agriculturers, engineers, teachers, technicians and tradesmen who can develop the natural resources of your country.The ball is at your feet, the goal is straight ahead, play the game and you are bound to win."

The Stool at the 1999 Golden Jubilee

Nana Prempeh suggested that the school be named ASANTE SECONDARY SCHOOL, while others suggested ANNO COLLEGE - after the place where it was to be sited. Mayor Butler, however, thought that PREMPEH COLLEGE might be a more inspiring name. After a curt confabulation between Rev. Pearson and His Majesty; the King's name was eventually adopted. But could you imagine Prempeh boys going out with the name tags A-S-S (Asante Secondary School)?

The King told Mr. Pearson that he had a special "sunsum" (soul) for the School and it is a STOOL - a replica of the Asante Golden Stool. True to his promise, His Majesty The King delivered a Silver Stool to the Golden School the following morning, 8AM sharp! Just like the ancient Babylonians who sort to build the Tower of Babel for the good of posterity, His Majesty the King got up and delivered a patrimony to his children, and his children's children.

The Stool at the 1966 Speech day

The soul of the whole College rests with the Silver Stool awarded the School by the Father - Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Prempeh II. It is believed that some royal ancestral spirits watch over the School and her alumni via some unexplainable guarding mechanism through Nana Prempeh's Stool. Consider the case of the 1974 Asante Regional Inter-School's Hockey Championship match. It was played twice; both ended in a draw (amid a brawl) between another school and Prempeh College. The Ashanti Regional Sports Federation ordered a replay at a neutral ground - University of Science & Technology's Hockey pitch. There Prempeh hammered our competitors mercilessly and won the trophy. It is believed they paid homage to the Stool before the match. That the same rival school failed to turn up for the Hockey Final a decade earlier can also be attributed to the beneficence of the Stool.

King Prempeh's Stool has embodied the spirit and soul of Prempeh College since that day. It sits on a specially designed seat at special location on the College campus and it is brought out ONLY during important school functions, such as Jubilee Celebrations and Speech & Prize Giving Days. Even when it comes out, no human being touches it. It rests on a very soft pillow in the holder's hands. We mortals can only look. Nobody has touched King Prempeh's bequest up to now. It is unlike any stool or chair. It is never placed on a bare floor. Like The Golden Stool, the Prempeh Stool has its own Asipim or royal chair. It has its own attendants and carriers! The Prempeh College Assistant Senior Prefect is the person charged with the responsibility of carrying the Stool on school occasions. He is given special training on how to handle this all-important Soul of the School.

The Stool at the 1974 Silver Jubilee

Has anyone ever wondered about a possible Delphian potency that shapes up Prempeh College's performances in the annual Brilliant Science & Maths Quiz Competitions? It is even believed that our competitors and rivals in Ghana regards the Prempeh Stool with much grudging and fear. They never face us in hockey without much trepidation. The Prempeh Stool is the symbol that gashes a billion enemies in one battle. In Stool we Trust!

The King also gave the school its colour: the official colour of the Great Asante Kingdom - green, gold and black. However, only green and gold became associated with Prempeh College. The black has never really been a part of the system. The College's crest is purely green and gold. All school items are designed in green and gold. Prempeh's famous green and gold truck is called the Bone Shaker. A fifteen-minute ride in this tro-tro vehicle will weaken even the Sampsons among us. Paracetamol and aspirin are prescribed to the students upon their return from school trips in this truck.

Prempeh College selected 50 of the 20, 000 qualified applicants and the school began. The Cambridge Certificate syllabus was broken down to five years and Headmaster Pearson, whose name is also borne by one of the houses, asked his 4 members of staff "who will teach what?"

Rev. Pearson fixed his salary at only 300 pounds per year. Yet he paid his teachers higher. Even "fresh" teachers without a University degree was started at 360 British pounds a year. Strangely, Sidney Pearson continued paying his juniors more than what he was qualified to earn. Amazing!

The second year saw Prempeh matriculate 50 boys; 120 were brought in during the third year, and 130 the fourth year. Enter headshakers. "You (Pearson) can never have a school running with 500 students. How will you achieve that? It's simply not possible to have a school that big. You can never have a school where there will be real leadership with such large population." To their surprise, Prempeh College went year after year training many brilliant young boys. However, the first Headmaster could not stay to see the fruits of his labour because sadly his heart collapsed on December 24th, 1952 and he could no longer stay in Ghana. His health had started failing in November of that year and doctors could not find the cause. He therefore left Prempeh College for his native Scotland with his wife, affectionately known in Kumasi and Prempeh Campus as "Awuraa" (lady) Pearson. The Scottish woman was so nice that, it is believed, even the unborn exalted her! Speaking of the unborn, their son, David, was the first white baby born in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

The original motto of the College was: "Oman Pa Fapem Ne Obra Pa" meaning "Good citizens make a good nation." This motto was found to be rather mouthful, and was later amended to the shorter version: Suban ne Nimdee, meaning loosely, Knowledge and Integrity (word for word: good character and seasoned learning).

The school was originally housed in the wooden structures of what used to be the buildings of the 52nd Army Hospital during the 2nd World War. When the school first opened, students used old newspapers as mattresses for their beds. They lived in wooden structures that had housed a military hospital including a mortuary.

A sculpure of Nana Prempeh II on the campus dedicated to him by the Pioneer Class to commemorate the Golden Jubilee in 1999

King Prempeh II set up a special educational legacy for his future begats. The only other King in the history of the modern world to have done that with a similar tenacity elsewhere was English King Henry VI, who established Eton - The Kings College of England - in 1440. It will be 509 years before another great Royal Boys' School will be chartered elsewhere by another great monarch. This is not to imply that Prempeh and Eton are the only royal boys schools in the world. Certainly not. But the history surrounding the provenance of these two great schools of international repute and the high esteem in which they are held by their respective monarchies, is so staggering that to find a royal anywhere in our geographic entity who is not a Prempeh votary is as rare as a Christian who doesn't accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour!

To learn more, let us examine some royal facts: Besides being founded by a great King and being co-forged by a heir apparent - a man who later served as Chair of the Board of Governors of the College before becoming King - Prempeh is the only College where it is required by modus for the Headmaster to hold an annual Speech day and present an account of his stewardship to His Majesty The Asantehene. For nearly 30 years, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II (reigned 1970-1999) spent a day of each year on campus listening to reports of the School's order. He basically continued where his predecessor, Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyemang Prempeh II (reigned 1931-1970) had left off.

Homecoming of the Kings on campus for the Launching of the Jubilee in May 1998

In fact, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II sent his own son, the current Akyempemhene of Asante - Nana Oheneba Adusei Poku - to the school. He was the 1967/68 Assistant Senior Prefect of Prempeh. Bariama Danso Koroko, the Akyempemhene of Akyem Abuakwa also attended The Royal School. So were Daasebre Oti Boateng, New Juabenhene; Daasebre Akuamoa Boateng II, Kwahuhene; Kpeteple Narh Dawutey VI, Konor of Manya Krobo; Nana Oduro Nimepaw, Essumagyahene.

Male royals are sent from all over the nation to be educated at Prempeh College. The list is endless: They include the late Osagyefo Kuntunkununku II, the late Akyem King; Nana Osei Bonsu II, Mamponghene; Nana Asumadu Sakyi II, Kumawuhene; Nana Ofori Agyeman, Adansihene; Agyewodin Adu Gyamfi Ampem, Acherensuahene; Nana Akyena Kwagyan Nuama V, Asuonwunhene, and Kontre Mensa of the Kumasi Kontre Division and Nana Susubribi Krobea Asante, Omanhene of Asokore Traditional Area.

Nana Asumadu Sakyi II, Kumawuhene

Even our current Patron, Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu Opemsoo II qualified for admission as a boy and was sent to Prempeh - The Kings College of Ghana. But his uncle, Oheneba Mensah Bonsu, the Hiahene of Asante pulled him out of the school after meeting with the Headmaster on reopening day owing to the innumerable royals he saw roaming the campus. He didn't want the future Asantehene to commix with them.

In his first interview as Asantehene (June 1999, Uneek Magazine), King Osei Tutu II told his "Prempeh heritage story" to the whole world. Dear reader, you can just imagine the power and the prestige the name Prempeh College evokes around the world: in the very first paragraph of his first interview as King, His Majesty attested to the greatness of King Prempeh's School, and how he missed being a part of it all. He did not even talk about the school he was transferred to! There's something about the great Prempeh College!

Asantehemaa on campus presenting an award to N.O.A. Caesar for academic excellence

Even the Asantehemaa, the Queenmother Nana Afia Kobi Ampem II, visits the royal campus. She awarded Senior Nana Ofori Ampem Caesar for his academic excellence in 1988.

Moreover, the Queen of Dwaben visited the campus in 1998 and pleaded that Headmaster Sekyere admit her "unruly kids who are heirs to the Dwaben throne." The Queenmother wanted the royals to pick up some "suban ne nimdee" (knowledge and integrity) at The Kings College. She told the headmaster, "weinom yeh me nananom nkwadaa nketewa a daakye oomo bedi adie. Oomo di nkwadaabonesem wo fie, enti gye won na kyere won adie mame" (these are my little royals who will inherit my throne some day. They are being unruly and bad at home, so please take them and train them for me and the people of Dwaben).

Now, by virtue of his position as Asantehene, the Otumfuo continues the endless procession of fulgent royal splendour and inheritance which began with King Prempeh II and passed on to Otumfuo's predecessor, King Opoku Ware II.

Shortly after ascending the throne, he gave a huge sum of money to the College. He was then invited to grace the occassion of the College's Golden Jubilee Anniversary and to unveil a sulpture of the College's founder, King Prempeh II on the campus.

They plant a tree to mark the Golden Jubilee

The faith of our founding fathers in their own abilities and their faith in each other made Prempeh - The Kings College a pace-setting reality. Their faith and vision said that the time was indeed right for black people to take charge of their own destiny. It was a Faith that insisted that simply because a thing had never been done before did not mean the thing was impossible to do. Theirs was a Faith that gave birth not only to a nation but also to a movement - a movement that was the progenitor of many other schools around the the Northern sector of Ghana.

There is an interesting story found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis. It tells how Abraham, the man proclaimed as Father Abraham by the Hebrew people, was told by Yahweh to get out of the land of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan. "Get thee out to thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." Abraham might have stayed under the roof and cloak of his father's house, he might have been satisfied with the little world of Ur of the Chaldees, but he obeyed God, HE OBEYED DESTINY, he obeyed his calling and moved from the realm and contentment unto a wider horizon of exploration.

Mamponhene & Asokorehene

Similarly, Prempeh II said to Opoku Ware II, "go into the Sofoline mountains, and survey for me a land upon which I'll build my school, which will leave lasting impressions to the admiration of posterity." Opoku Ware II obeyed destiny and went out and did the work for the King's First College, just like Abraham in the land of the Chaldees. For 14 days and 14 nights Nana Opoku painfully surveyed in the hot sun. Abraham was the first pioneer of the Bible, and our fathers, sons of Ghana, were the first pioneers of GHANAIAN DESTINY in 1949. They moved out, they sought new frontiers and they conquered.

Life is like a relay race. One takes a flag and runs a distance and passes it on to another, then another, on and on the go until the finishing line is crossed.

King Prempeh II. King Opoku Ware II. King Osei Tutu II. The Kings College of Ghana. A continuation of the endless procession of lore and splendour.

Ramseyer House

Each of the Houses has a motto. Ohemaa Ama Serwah House has the motto, Vel Primus Velcum Primus (Be first or be among the first). Aggrey's motto is Solum Optimum Satis (Only the Best is good enough). Ramseyer, the first House, goes by the motto, Vouloir C'est Pouvoir (This is Power!). Imagine going to a campus and the first sign you see is "Here is the Power." It is so pwerful and abnormal, isn't it? That is the beauty of the first boarding House to be built in the Northern sector of Ghana. These are liitle things people ordinarily take for granted: there is some powerful sunsum (spirit) at the school. Our founding fathers were visionaries! Just think about it: "Here, we have the power!" What is this power? Is it knowledge?

G'bergians live by the motto Primus Inter Pares (First Among the Equals) while Osei Tutu has the much envied motto Susu Biribi (Man must be thoughtful, respectful and give thought to worthwhile deeds). Pearson has the motto Dwen hwe Kan (Think ahead) while Butler goes by Ellis Esse Lux (Let there be light). Freeman is the only House to have had a change of motto over the years. In her glory days, Freeman's motto was Forward Ever. Readers will soon learn how germane and appropriate this motto was to Freeman in her good old days. It was later changed to the current Unity Plus Hardwork.

Serwah House

Was Serwah House meant to house girls hence the name and location? That is what the story has been on Prempeh campus over the years. But Reverend Pearson says the answer is a big NO! Serwah House was never intended to house girls. The founding fathers intended to make the school an all-boys institution from the beginning. The House was named after Dwabenhemaa Nana Ama Serwah for her tenacity in Asanteman at that time. The location of the house was just merely an architectural choice and had nothing to do with protecting female students from male predators. Completed and opened in 1953, Serwah House won the Inter-House Singing Competition for 5 consecutive years (1957-62) and won the Inter-House Cross Country Competition for five straight years (1962-67). The tallest of all the Houses, Serwah's Common Room is a place that attracts all sorts of uneccessary arguments and anti-socials from all walks of life. This comes as no surprise considering it's location. It could be more appropriately described as "The Gateway to the City." The showers at Serwah's bath house is the most used in the College because they "taps" flow all year round; even when there are water shortages in the whole city, Serwah House has water!

Ghana's greatest runner of all time, Stanley Allotey, is a product of this great House.

Serwah is known for her famous Housemaster, Mr. Raymond "Functions" Poku, also known as Masta Fa. The Mathematics luminary, Mastafa made so many ridiculous rules in the 80s cheif among which was the restriction of Serwah residents to one toilet visit per day. This was because he believed the students of this particular house ate so much and spent a lot of time defecating in lieu of studying. Yes, this man actually monitored the students' toilet visits in the House bathroom.

Mastafa is one teacher who used "Mmo ho" (kneeling down) as punishment for students. He used to get students to escort him to his bungallow because he was scared on the way in the night, and on arrival he would ask the student to kneel down in front of his house, often forgetting that the poor victim was out there.

Further, he used to interfere with parental visits by approaching parents on weekends and telling them how dumb and unruly their wards were.

Aggrey is easily recognized as the House that never performs well in sports. In fact, saying Aggrey ever was productive in sports will be doing them a great justice. However, led by a future Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Aggrey House won the inter-House cricket for 5 successive years (1962-67). The hard hitting of Dufuor and K.A Gyarteng enabled Prempeh beat Ghana Sec Tech of Takoradi and qualified for the quarter finals. A Dufuor-led Aggrey hockey team placed 3rd in the Inter-House. Dufuor, Adu and Lartey excelled themselves. Dufuor made the school team.

Aggrey House

Students from the 1970s surely still remember the Aggrey House K. Lomo phenomenon. Kenneth Lomo of Aggrey House came to Prempeh Sixth Form from Tema Secondary School in 1978. Rumours quickly spread that Wofa K could clock the hundred 100 meters in 10.6 secs. Since Aggrey House never perform well in Sports, the news was very refreshing to them. The only person who didn't want to hear of K. Lomo as the best sprinter was Senior Christopher Graham (Olele) who was the then best sprinter of Sofoline. Everybody expected Wofa K Lomo to make an impact. One thing led to the other and Wofa K. practised late at night with a lantern or a torch light. The secrecy was so serious, no one knew how good Wofa K was but Aggrey House told everyone to wait until the Inter-House Atletics. People surely saw Wofa K, he took an early lead for the first 10 yards and was quickly out-paced by the top contenders like Asway, and Sandy, etc. Once he noticed that his chances of even making the 7th position was in doubt, he faked a muscle pull and went to the side lines. It was shameful, the biggest joke on campus. You had to see this! It was very funny; this guy was 5'4" with such a presence on the tracks. He faked it all for attention. From that day on, any act of running, whether in a film or at Kajetia, was known as K. LOMO.

Aggrey House newspaper, The Eagle Announcer, was the most renowned House paper in those days.

Pearson - The Gentlemen's House - is indeed a very progressive House. Pearson House could be dubbed "where Kings have trod!" This house has produced many of the men who make up our nation's much revered Chieftancy institution. Kuntunkununku II slept here. Kumawuhene Asumadu Sakyi slept here. The Akyempemhene of Akyem also was in Pearson. Further, some of the world's best physicians came from this famous house. A brilliant medical mind from Pearson - Dr. Asafu-Adjei - is the CEO of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, one of Ghana's two major Comprehensive Teaching Hospitals.

Pearson House athletics squad - 1988

The team that performed the first heart transplant operation in Chechoslovakia, which took place at the Bratislava Hospital in 1968, included a Prempeh College Old Boy, Alex Fredua Agyemang. Alex was then a medical student on top of his class at the prestigious Charles University Medical School, and thus was also the first student to perform sugery in Chechoslovakia! Even more noteworthy is the fact that he accomplished this feat only 7 years after leaving Pearson House. Alex went on to become the Akyem King Osagyefuo Kuntunkununku II.

Further, Dr. Kweku Ghartey of Pearson House Class of '62 is a renowned retinal surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is considered by his peers to be Number 1 in his field! Several cases from around the world are transferred to him every year.

Pearson has also produced many great Mathematicians and sportsmen. Pearson set a record in 1968 by winning the hockey final (led by Mark Addo and Lamptey); Table Tennis (comprising Magnus Sandyson, Asante A.K and Sefa Boachie); the Athletics Championship; The Tokyo Shielld; The Tract Cup and the Football Championship. In form 3, the first 8 positions were taken by Pearson boys while a majority of the A-level prizes went to Pearsonians. In the same year, Pearson was the first house to introduce the concept of democracy to Prempeh. They were the first House to have a very well-organized House Council. Each form elected one member to represent it on this council and whenever they met, it was democracy at its best. Mr. R.T Sackey was their Asst. Headmaster then. Sackey will go on to become the Headmaster of Prempeh College. The population of Pearson during that year was 90.

1970: Some students of Pearson House putting their flower-beds in good shape for the end of term Gardening competition

In 1959 Inter-House Athletics, Pearson House had no one to jump the pole vault. They were on the verge of forfeiting the precious points from the event when young Alex Fredua Agyemang stepped unto the field and grabbed the stick. He jumped for the first time and won the event and the tournament for Pearson. Alex will later go on to become the Akyem King Kuntunkununku II.

And there was an expatriate Housemaster of PEARSON who was nicknamed "PONKO ABODAM" (CRAZY HORSE)! The story has it that Mr. Anderson, a Scottish, one day bought a coffin. He then informed his Ghanaian tutor friend that he had bought a fine African furniture. The friend then went to see the furniture, only to find the Housemaster relaxedly lying in a coffin. It was unbelievable! A living being resting in a coffin? This man from then on spent most of his free time in the coffin. Ironically, he was the only expatriate teacher to die on Prempeh campus. He was placed in one of his favourite coffins and shipped back to Scotland. That a gravesite exist at the back of Pearson House is only a myth. The only person who died purchased his own coffin for him to be shipped effectively to Scotland!

Could Pearson be the Greatest House?

OT House

Osei Tutu, "The Neat House," won the famous Efficiency Cup (the trophy awarded for terminal inter-house neatness inspection) every term for 5 successive years (1962-67). Osei Tutu was home to The Cappe Coast University Chancellor, Professor S.K. Adjepong and Headmaster E.A. Afoakwa, as well as the Akyempemhene of Asante, Nana Oheneba Adusei Popku. They also hold the school's 4 X 100 meter relay record.

Like Aggrey, Osei Tutu also had a newspaper in the old days - The Voice.

G'berg House is most popular for her footballing skills. Even the 1987 Kumasi Cornerstones FC that won the WAFU (West African Football Union) Cup featured a Prempeh College boy from G'berg House - Senior Attakora (Shanton). Nana Akyena Kwagyan Nuama V, Asuonwunhene, is also a product of G'berg House.

Ramseyer House has produced the fewest number of Senior Prefects at Prempeh. They had the longest draught in School Prefectship: they went decades without producing a single soul as S.P of The Great Prempeh College. However, for the past two decades, Ramseyer has dominated the inter-house table tennis championships. If Ramseyer wins the title one more time, we may have to report them to the Monopolies Commission! The First House is also noted for producing great sprinters.

Mr. J.A. Kufuor's home was Butler House. Mr. Edward Boateng, CNN's Regional Director for Europe also came from Butler. Butler House, like Pearson has produced some brilliant Mathematicians and sportsmen. Butler always battled Freeman and Pearson for school honours in hockey, football and athletics.

1971 Freeman Athletics Champions

Sports was all Freeman in the 1960s. Powerful Freeman won the Annual Inter-House Competition for 4 years running, setting 7 records. Owusu-Mensah won the 100, 220, and 440 yds with all new records. And Ohene-Frempong won the 1120 yds, hurdless, shot putt, long jump and tripple jump. Freeman athletes dominated the school team that won the Presidential shield in Accra for 3 consecutive years. The period saw the reign of several renowned national athletes, including Senior S. Owusu Mensah. Those athletes were of international repute and before any race, the inferiority complex effect (I.C.E) alone defeated opponents.

Owusu Mensah with his Osagyefo's Golden Boy Shield

They represented Ghana in the Commonwealth Games and in the Olympics. In appreciation of the sterling qualities as a great athlete, Ghana's President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah dispatched Mr. Ohene Djan, the then director of Sports to the school in 1965 to present Freeman's Owusu-Mensah with the accolade "Osagyefo's Golden Boy." The President also caused a Radio Ghana Commentary to be focussed on Prempeh College in praise of Owusu Mensah, Osagyefo's Golden Boy. They also dominated lawn tennis with the Ahwoi brothers. Kwesi Ahwoi who was in Form 4 in 1963 won the lawn tennis trophy for Freeman House.

So glorious was Freeman in those days that they even spanked Ramseyer House 8-2 in 1967 inter-house soccer tourney.

In table tennis, Freeman was second to none. Their Ahwoi brothers, and the sensational Nuro, along with Sarrah-Mensah, made up the much favoured school team.

A ninth House, bearing the name of the late King Opoku Ware II was put up as a birthday present for the School's Golden Jubilee. It is currently under construction; it is due to be completed in three years.

After the Rev. S.N. Pearson (1949-53), came Mr. T.C. Sims as the second Headmaster of the school (1954-58).

Headmaster T.C. Simms (on the far right) with his family

Mr. Simms is credited for the establishment of a very strong Sixth Form Science Course in the School. His name is borne by the street leading from the main entrance to the Administration Block. Mr. Sims passed away in 1990 in the U.K. his family visited Prempeh College two years later and reported of his passing.

He was followed by the Rev. A.D. Lewis (1958-60), who also has a street named after him (the street leading from the administration through the Serwah gate to the Kitchen). Rev. Lewis built bungalows for the then African University graduates to get them involved in teaching. He also tarred up all the streets and built the concrete walk-ways leading from Butler to Pearson houses (what is refered to now as the APPEAN WAY). For these reasons he was refered to as "Osiadan" (Builder of Landmarks). The new Library which opened in 2000 AD is named for him.

The next headmaster was Mr. Arthur Clark (1961-62), and thus completing a line of expatriate headmasters--all British. Arthur Clark Street is the road behind the dormitories. It starts at the O.T bath house through Katanga past the school tennis and basketball courts. It was he who instilled discipline in Prempeh College and laid the foundation for Mr. T.A. Osae. During his two years as Headmaster, Prempeh College challenged and beat Mfantsipim in academic excellence. In fact, Arthur Clark was the man who "killed" Mfantsipim. The Cape Coast School has not been able to catch up with Prempeh since Headmaster Clark took Prempeh past them in 1961.

During the olden days the school's Red cross also carved an enviable niche for the school as a result of its out-of-school activities. On Sundays, after breakfast, groups of the Red Cross members were dispatched to the surrounding towns, notably, Kwadaso, Ampabame and Boshyen to educate the public on the importance of personal hygeine. Led by the Red Cross Prefect, they also gave first aid treatment to the people and treated minor ailments like the common cold and sore-throat.

For instance, under the patronage of Mrs. Goodfellow, in 1967/68, the Prempeh Red Cross had a historic tour of the Basel Mission at Agogo. They gave a number of gifts to the patients at the Hospital - these included: fruits, toys and magazines. S.O. Anane was the President.

The position "Red Cross Prefect" was changed in 1968, with Twum-Barimah of Butler House becoming the first "Health Prefect." The members of the society from time to time freely donated blood to the Okomfo Anokye Hospital in Kumasi to help save precious lives. The Red Cross is equipped with a tent, field boxes, stretchers, blankets and strawmats. With its motto "Service to Mankind," the Prempeh College Red Cross has been functioning very well. It gives assistance to athletes who either collapse or out of shame fall down during the Annual Inter Schools & College Athletics Competition. The Society is also always on its feet on every Prempeh Inter-House Sporting Games. The Red Cross pledge in the old days was "I...as a member of the Red Cross Society promise to serve God and my country and to join others all over the world to help to help the sick and the suffering." It is Prempeh's own version of the Oath of Hippocrates doctors take upon completion of a medical course of study. This is one of the many unique things about the Prempeh College culture.

King Prempeh II inspects the Cadets in 1966

At the beginning of the 1985/86 academic year, the Cadet Corps bid farewell to our former P.S.I WOI Seidu Busanga who had served in the school for about 30 years. He was replaced by P.S.I. WOI Nutakor, a very dynamic man. Cadets who are taught about army life are taught weapon drill, swimming and section battle formation.

To keep the cadets fit, there is an "endurance" on every other Saturday. This is quite a good experience to both the cadets and the civilians in the school who usually take part. The School also brings in an instructor from the 4th Battalion of Infantry to prepare the boys for Speech and Prize Giving Days. Prempeh College cadets are also in charge maintaining order and preventing all sorts of unecessary riots during Inter-Collegiate Sports Competitions at the Kumasi Sports Stadium. Furthermore, our Cadet boys nearly always participate at the Stadium during Independence Day Celebrations.

In two such occasions, our cadets WOII Abu Ibrahim and WOI Amoako have been honoured with "The Best Cadet Sword." Abu Ibrahim is also the first and the only cadet boy in Ghana to command the national Independence Day Anniversary parade at the Kumasi Sports Stadium from 1986 and 1989.

Another great achievement of the Corps is that it has been able to produce graduates from the Military Academy. One of these is Oppong Yaw Tawiah, our 1982/83 Assistant Senior Prefect.

Go on to History - Part II