...Headmaster shows lack of passion in certain critical situations
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The grudge between our national quiz contestants and our Headmaster reached a plateau when Prempeh quiz coordinator Mr. Kupo
phoned the headmaster and informed him that "the team has ran out of money in Accra and need some funds urgently" apparently because
the money Mr. Owusu-Achiaw gave them was not sufficient.
Mr. Owusu-Achiaw
The Headmaster's lukewarm response was, "okay, I will check with the bursar and see what we can do."
The academic stars, who have always felt marginalized under this Headmaster, were never surprised by the headmaster's seeming lack of
concern for this weighty situation.
We have former students who have already graduated from the school stranded in Accra needing money. They have no obligation to sacrifice their
time to travel to Accra. They also went to Accra without parental consent to go and compete for 3 long weeks in an attempt to bring academic honours
and a much-needed bragging right to our dear College. They are not paid to carry out this task and they are under no obligation to do likewise.
Their only motivation is the love they have for their alma mater. Yet our Headmaster doesn't have the motivation to support them?
Important Questions
Once upon a time a headmaster could have ordered money to be sent by the bursar immediately. What about sending the boys his own funds and deducting it from the
college's account later (he has enough money to be "building a small house for his family" or what his close
observers believe is a bona fide hotel). Here is a man who
uses a different car for each day of the week.
In fact, when some Prempeh athletes suffered serious injuries at the Obuasi Len
Clay Stadium at the 2006 Super Zonal Ahletics, the headmaster used his own funds to rush them to the hospital.
If he has the money to pay the hospital expenses of those who play sports, why is it hard for him to use his money to feed
those who compete for honours in science?
Or what about going to the college's bankers to take an emergency loan to be sent to the boys immediately?
Instead of ordering the bursar -- his subordinate -- to work immediately,
the Headmaster showed a strange lack of passion and a bizzare form of cluelessness at this critical time.
He said he will talk to the bursar and see what could be done. We expected him to get money from the
bursar and bring it with him to Accra when he promised to
visit Accra on Monday, July 9 to watch the boys take on Kumasi Anglican in the semi final.
Outcome not Surprising
But unsurprisingly, the Headmaster woke up on that fateful Monday and decided he does not feel like visiting Accra after all. He phoned
the team in Accra to inform them that he will instead visit them on the day of the final to help carry the trophy to Kumasi. Only then was he told that
the boys did not win the semi final after all. He exhibited this strange pattern of behaviour by once again by asking Kupo, "then it is not necessary for me to come, right?
Or do you still think I should be there tomorrow?"
By behaving this way, Mr. Owusu-Achiaw is lending credence to the claim by some of his detractors
that his "promotion" from Headmaster of Dompoase Secondary School -- a school that has never participated in any national
science competitions -- to the Full headmaster of Prempeh College was a huge leap.
In fact, Mr. Owusu-Achiaw never intended on coming to Accra at all. He only made a pledge to come when he read an article on this website
which stated that former headmaster, R.T. Sackey, was "returning to Accra quiz center to serve as Prempeh Headmaster for at least a few days."
The timing of Mr. Owusu-Achiaw's pledge of a visit to Accra and the appearance of that Sackey article which piqued him
was too staggering to be considered a mere concidence. He felt so slighted by the website's remarks that he called the boys immediately
to inform them of his coming, though his heart was not in it.
