SPEECH DELIVERED BY MR. ATO AHWOI, PNDC SECRETARY FOR ENERGY AND GUEST SPEAKER AT THE 42ND PREMPEH COLLEGE SPEECH DAY ON SATURDAY, 30TH NOVEMBER 1991.

Otumfuo Asantehene, colleagues and PNDC Secretaries, Nananom, Distinguished Guests, ladies and gentlemen, students of the school, the first time I set foot in this Assembly Hall was on the 15th January 1958 as a form one student of Freeman House, I never imagined at the time that I would ever be on this stage in this hall again and delivering an address as guest speaker. For an honour done me I express my gratitude to the headmaster, staff students and all of you.

Later in that year at a function similar to this one I am addressing today, the then headmaster Mr. Simms announced that at the 1957 School Certificate Examinations only 1 student had a grade 1. When during the first term holidays I told my father about the schools O'levels performance he retorted angrily "what sort of school have you chosen if only 1 student can attain grade 1? Do you know that the school I told you to select (Achimota of which he was an old boy) had about 30 grade 1s? By the time I sat for the school certificate examination in 1962 Prempeh College had been transformed into the leading school in the whole country. In academics, Prempeh was the best, in sports we were unbeatable, in discipline we were par excellence but my father never lived to witness this dramatic feat since he died when I was still a form one student.

Mr. chairman, one will ask what happened to transform Prempeh so radically in 5 short years. The answer ladies and gentlemen, lies in the adage motto "OMAN PA FA PEM NE OBRA PA." Discipline was the watchword. Discipline of the mind and discipline of the soul were cardinal principles which were not negotiable and could not be sacrificed. Unfortunately at a certain period in our nations history, when we all lost our bearings and sense of direction and indiscipline took the better part of society this infectious disease attacked Prempeh College also. The outcome was that in the late 70s and 80s, the school performance fell to abysmally low levels due to indiscipline on the part of both teachers and students. Masters were openly inciting students to take the law into their hands because there was bad blood between them and the headmaster. Students spent less time on their books and used the extra time for unproductive activity because at home their parents had thrown discipline to the wind. One always reaps what they sow and we are all living witnesses to what happened to this school during that period and we must all resolve never again to go back to those bad old days.

Mr Chairman, a look at the 1990s A-level results of Prempeh College gives the indication that probably the bad old days are with us again. Out of 80 students only 28 passed in all subjects this means that next academic year only 28 Prempeh students can gain admission into to Universities in Ghana. For the 23 who passed in 2 subjects and the 17 who passed in 1 subject they must fight a second world war if they ever hope to gain admission to any of our local universities.

Dear headmaster, the A-level results are very disappointing indeed. You teachers have failed us. In spite of the exorbitant fees you charge for extra classes in spite of the difficulties parents have to go through to raise resources to educate their wards, your output is in question. These results do no service to your capabilities. Students of Prempeh you have a very long way to go to reestablish the academic eminence of this school. You have disappointed your parents and all of us. This poor A level showing is coming at a time when graduate unemployment is rearing its head in this country. 50 years ago during the very youthful days of my father going to hall and acquiring the MSLC could lead one to brighter career prospects. 25 years ago, the passport to brighter career prospects was the O-Levels certificate. 15 years ago an A-level certificate could place one in a high pedestal of life. Unfortunately presently even university graduates are unemployed. Not voluntarily, but because the economy has no jobs to absorb them. Currently with an O-level certificate landing a job as a clerical officer is almost imposssible. An A-level holder has to walk the pavements for weeks before if you are extremely lucky you can secure a job as a salesman or clerical officer. My brother students times have changed you have to understand that and take your studies very seriously.

Our society is so structured that you fail your olevels and alevels, and you are relegated into the limbo of history unless your parents are rich enough to send you overseas to hustle to better yourself. The parents of a great majority of you however cannot afford to ship you overseas and you may therefore find yourself selling coat hangers and dog chains by the roadside even with your one A-level PASS. Dear students, now is the hour. Somebody is bearing all the expenses on you so that you can be somebody of substance tommorrow. If you don't take advantage of it and apply yourself seriously to your books the train of knowledge will pass you by and you will be the worse for it. You may not have a second chance, you better take advantage of the chance you have now. The mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Prempeh college is one school which has in its 43 years of existence produced students whose influence can be felt in all spheres of life and all corners of the earth. Our products hold all sorts of position in this country and outside. What has made this possible is the sort of training we receive within these walls which so equip us that we never feel inferior to any assignment we undertake. The teachers are always prepared to to go the extra mile to ensure a congenial and friendly academic atmosphere. In short, this school gives its best to us to make us what we are or will be. In Akan we have a saying that "SE WO MAME HWE WO MA WO SE FIFI A WO NSO HWE NO MA NE SE TUTU". President Kennedy put it "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country". I ask of all Amanfoo what gratitude have you shown to the school which has made you what you are? Of you the current crop of students what gratitude are you going to exhibit to this school which will make you what you will be?

Mr. Chairman, all over the world old boys contributions accounts for over 50% of the resources used in running the school. People bequeath to their alma maters huge legacies on their death, some people make monthly donations or contributions to their school so as to improve and increase knowlegde. What have you as an Amanfoo done all these years to the school to justify its investment in you. We proudly display the schools emblem on our vehicles. We trumpet it proudly to the whole world that we are products of Prempeh College. But we never put our money where our mouth is. Ghanaians erroneously believe that running and maintenance of a school is an obligation to be borne only by government. We all have to recognise that governments resources are limited to the extent of taxes paid by its citizens. Government with all the pressures on these resources at its disposal cannot meet the expectations of all citizens. Government does what it can to allocate resources to cover the myriad of demands that knocks on its doors. In the processes no one is wholly satisfied with what government has given it. The call of self-help which has been ringing through all our villages is to supplement government efforts. We must assist ourselves so that we can be helped to attain our objectives.

The headmaster in his address stated among others that the lack of accommodation is making it difficult to recruit good quality teachers. Shortages of classrooms, teaching equipment, etc are making it impossible for the school to further expand its enrolment. Dear amanfoo what are you doing to help solve this problem? Its through generosity and humanness of others that prempeh was established by the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. The meagre "collections" on Sundays of churchgoers at that time turned into a mighty ocean which made it possible for Prempeh to be found. Having been so founded are its products who drank from the rivers of benevolence reciprocating that gesture? Some 5 years ago an appeal for funds was launched for Amanfoo to contribute towards the completion of the school library. The target was only 10 million cedis. To date we still have not been able to collect only 10 million cedis. This for a school with over 2000 amanfoo is a big shame to all of us. If Amanfoo were to contribute even 100 cedis per month to the school all the compliments enumerated by the headmaster would have been taken care of. We must learn to give and not always receive. Let some people also thank us rather than we always being on the receiving end and expressing our thanks to our benefactors. Let us give Prempeh for it has mothered us to be what we are.

In line with this principles, the class of 1962 and 64, of which I am one have pledged to contribute 500,000 cedis to the school. I trust that other year groups will make similar contributions. To the young who are here at Prempeh today as students you will very soon be passing out as old boys and you will be expected and must therefore also contribute to the cost of running and maintaining Prempeh. Today its our turn to look after you, tomorrow it will be your turn to look after your children when they enter these walls. Please don't disappoint them at that time. The schools motto "SUBAN NE NIMDEE," that is character and integrity. The school's anthem also says in part "TRAINED IN LOVE FOR TRUTH AND EXCELLENCE".

Ladies and gentlemen how can we build a great country if as children and students we are not indoctrinated with the tenets of truth, integrity hard work and patriotism? A truthful citizen is an asset for truth leads to accountabilty. How does one establish the truth? As students we must always be in search of the truth. Research and analysis are the ingredients which will lead us to the truth. We must have an analytical and inquisitive mind. We must be prepared to put popular truths to the test and to establish the real truth. The greatest damage we can do to ourselves in search for truth is to accept popular myths as the gospel truth without conducting a research to determine the truth. The earth was flat according to the popular myth at the time but the quest for the truth through researching led to the conclusion that the earth is round. Let me give you an example of some popular current myths in Ghana. The weekly stock in trade of almost all the private newspapers is to call on the PNDC appointees to declare or publish their assets. From this legitimate demand some of these newspapers have concluded that appointees have not declared their assets and therefore are not practicing the accountability principle on which the PNDC is built. Can the truth be ascertained? I say yes for a little research can easily lay to rest these name calling and innuendos. These pressmen instead of taking the word of ex-presidents and other politicians as the truth can either interview some of the appointees or better still take a short trip to the office whereby law assets declaration forms upon completion are to be lodged. Instead of taking this research the press are only pleased in throwing mud at appointees. I would urge anybody interested in this issue to find out from the auditor-general wherether appointees have declared their assets or not. A visit to the commissioner for internal revenue will also establish whether appointees file their income tax or not. My research has not indicated where assets should be published but if the law so indicates PNDC appointees will comply. I have used this example to illustrate the point that truth can always be established if one is prepared to invest a little bit of time and effort and is not jaundiced by prejudice. The human mind becomes dull if one refuses to sharpen it by using it continuously through research and analysis. Dear students, let us at this early age develop the attitude of establishing the truth for our selves through research.

As students the nation is investing in you in the hope that upon graduation you would also help build a better Ghana. Your nation also expects you to be a patriot and serve it with all your might. There is no point in qualifying as a doctor exporting your whole body to another country and whilst there condemning your colleagues who are still in Ghana for not building the country. I met this doctor in New York who told me that farmers who smuggle cocoa should be shot because they are destroying the economy. I looked at him and retorted "if there should be any shooting, you should be shot first." Surprised, he asked "why?" I told him that farmers has only smuggled a part of his product but he has smuggled his whole body and mind out of Ghana. That doctor didn't even realise that he is a smuggler and has done worse damage to our fragile economy. Most of us, the educated don't appreciate what it is to be a patriot. We always want to know what our country can do for us never what we can do for our country.

Nananom, a debate on debordinisation of schools is currently raging on in this country. The virtues of debordinisation have been extolled by many prominent educationist. Boarding schools are too expensive to run so let us do away with them, so goes the current conventional wisdom. But inspite of conventional wisdom, has bordenisation provided any unqualified long term advantages. My answer is yes.

Mr. Chairman one of the major issues threatening the stability and unity of African countries is the cancer of tribalism. Nigeria, Liberia, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, to mention but a few have been through costly in terms of human and material resources, civil wars all on account of tribalism. Even in Europe the state of Yugoslavia is disintegrating as a result of the tribal civil war raging on between the Serbs and Croats. In Ghana, tribalsm is a cancer that must be uprooted if our nation is to survive, some Ashantis may not trust Ewes because of tribal prejudice, Konkombas and Nanumbas are always at each others throats as a result of tribal prejudice.

Tribal prejudice are such that some tribes would not like to marry people from other tribes. People are not even prepared to sit down with their fellow Ghanaians to talk issues over all in the name of tribalism. Such tribal prejudice are not limited to only those who have no formal educaton. Some of the worst tribalistist are some persons with formal educational background. Thanks to boarding schools students from different tribes get thrown into the same environment. The end result is that the level of tribalism in Ghana has not been so magnified as to lead us to civil wars. Thanks to Dr Nkrumah who spent so much time and efforts to forge national unity. He built all these great schools as boarding institutions as part of measures to eradicate tribalism. We must therefore do everything to avoid the calamity of tribalism taking too strong a foothold. Mr. Chairman, I want to state categorically that tribal prejudice will be magnified if we convert all our secondary schools today, schools such that konkomba children all schools in saboba as day students and Aowin children all school at Asankragwa. These children would have lived and grown up only in their tribal environment and whatever prejudice they may have been brought up with would not have been watered down by the experience of mixing with other tribesmen under boarding institutions. We have no problem now getting Ghanaians to think and behave as Ghanaians and not as Fantis, Gas, Asantes, etc., and we should not compound our problems by not allowing interaction between children during their formative years.The unity of Ghana must be sacrosanct and we must not allow short term expediencies to cloud our thinking so that we sow the seed for a long term problem that will threaten our national unity.

THANK YOU.

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