A MAGNIFICIENT CEREMONY

Sunday, October 23, 2005

I am amazed about the whole thing and I think programs as this one are among the secrets behind Prempeh's academic excellence in Ghana.

-Rita, a student of AMASS

Headmaster Owusu-Achiaw and Mrs. Theresa Danso making their way to the Osae Assembly Hall. The resplendent Prempeh colours she wore was not fortuitous.

Besides the Asante Akyempemhene, the Dean of KNUST Medical School and the Director-General of the Ghana Health Services, the fourth distinguished guest we invited was the Regional Director of Education, Mrs. Theresa Danso.

The invitation letter had actually went out to Mr. Kwaku Twumasi, an Amanfoo whose term of office ended last week. Mrs. Danso had just on Monday taken over as the new Director of Education and, her first task in office was to answer prempeh.org's call. The woman, whose son and daughters attended Prempeh and YAGSS, made the YAGSS ladies so happy upon revealing her affection for these two royal schools.

Always the best-dressed, Headmaster Owusu-Achiaw delivering his speech.

She went on to urge Prempeh College to go and bring the prestigious national trophy to Ashanti for good. She used her sermon to offer some suggestions about some future directions that prempeh.org could undertake.

Yaa Asantewaa Girls were 30 in number, and when our Headmaster stated that "YAGSS Girls are my in-laws; my sons are going to marry you," they shouted in joy.

When the Adehyee first arrived, their Headmistress asked for thirty of the program brochures for her students. The headmistress was stunned by the fact that the very moment she asked for the booklets, Prempeh's outstanding Protocol Prefects were standing by in perfect readiness to hand the brochures to them -- a very delicate colour design that featured the front page of the prempeh.org homepage.

YAGSS ladies admiring the frontpage of the program brochure, with The Stool in its pure green colour just as it appears on the site.

Upon obtaining these mementos for her students, the Headmistress departed for Tanoso.

The girls became very enamored of the whole Prempeh experience when they entered the Osae Assembly Hall. They fell deeper in love with Prempeh College when Mr. Kupo listed the prizes for the top four positions. The girls realised that over $10,000 were being given out as prizes for the 20 contestants that will represent the top four houses alone! How could any oldboy do this? The cash prize for the winning house was even more imposing.

Akyempemhene delivers his address as Mrs. Danso whispers to the Headmaster. We see from this view the brown kente cloth used to decorate the walls of the stage. The Akyempemhene said he was stunned by the power and beauty of the whole program. He admitted to us after the program that he was expecting something very small but was shocked by what he saw at the Assembly Hall.

When Akyempemhene grabbed the microphone and said that "this initiative is the first of its kind in the whole of Ghana," the ladies were seen applauding the remark.

Equally impressed were they by the Distinguished Guests and the scrupulous design of the whole event. They told us afterwards that, "you have to come and start one at our school for us. Prempeh are our brothers; when they lead we follow. We just loved the school anthem, it touched our hearts. At YAGSS we do not know the lyrics to our own anthem. But here you guys have it memorized and you all know how to sing it. The fact that you all got up and sang it before the crowd dispersed was just too powerful."

After the ceremony, it took more than 30 minutes for their bus to arrive, so they enjoyed themselves with the drinks and snacks that were served by our outstanding Protocol Prefects.

The inauguration resembled prempeh.org website in that it took a soaring flight.

The most interesting segment was when we brought the TV3 crew to film an unrehearsed, unplanned conversation between some members of the Prempeh teaching staff seated at the Administration block. The content of their dialogue will surprise the national audience if the network finds the temerity to show that part.