The following are interesting stories from 2007 that didn't appear on the website.
12. A missed boxing encounter
On May 8, when the seniors were taking their exams in the Assembly Hall, Mr. Dwamena, the third Assistant Headmaster was going
around invigilating the exam. Suddenly headmaster Owusu-Achiaw appeared and started mentioning names of students who owed
school fees. In his quest to make sure the students paid up, he tried to interrupt the examination proccess.
Boxer Dwamenah. Amanfoo would have loved to see him pounce on Achiaw in a supposedly ultimate fantasy fight. Would it ever come on in 2008?
Mr. Dwamena said that fee collection was not his job and that he will not help the headmaster in that regard. He told Achiaw: "I am older
than you, you can't boss us around."
Achiaw responded: Don't you have any respect? Don't you realize that your Headmaster is talking to you? Don't you have any respect for
authority?"
Mr. Dwamena was ready to box the headmaster and Achiaw was willing to hit back.
Both men were "ready to take it outside."
However, Freeman housemaster
stepped in between them
and separated them. Consequently, the students of Prempeh College missed an opportunity to watch a potentially exciting and explosive
boxing match.
11. Respect is earned
The year began with Prempeh headmaster, Akwasi Owusu-Achiaw, complaining about a visit he made to the private residence
of the President of Ghana - John A. Kufuor - Prempeh Class of '58.
Achiaw returned from the president's house devastated that, at the event he received no special
recognition as "Prempeh College headmaster."
Apparently, Achiaw wanted the Amanfoo audience to receive an advanced announcement that a great man was on the way. And when he got there,
he expected Amanfoo to get up and bow to him.
Has this man forgotten that respect is earned? Does he want to be placed in the same elite category with
T.A. Osae, R.T. Sackey and S.N. Pearson? Has he forgotten that he has not achieved anything significant in his lifetime? This is the same
passionless man who even lacks
the intelligence to devise a plan when students are sleeping in darkness during a critical exam season.
Instead of looking for a presidential acknowledgement or citation, he should rather count himself lucky that he was plucked
from his highly merited obscurity in the village of Dompoase and thrust into the Prempeh headmaster office. That is the highest he will ever go
with his general cluelessness! He should also be thankful that Prempeh Old Boys paid for the masters degree he recently acquired at the University
of Cape Coast.
10. 40 million versus zero
At the national Science & Maths Quiz competition in Accra, we learned that
a passionate St. Peter's headmaster spent 40 million cedis in preparation for the competition. That was the amount spent
on the contestants.
In contrast, Prempeh headmaster spent a total of zero cedis. He is applying all the money destined to support our quiz competition
to the huge mansion he is building at Esereso.
9. House of the Year 2007
Osei Tutu gets our vote as House of the Year because of the incredible passion of their housemaster, Mr. Quayson.
Mr. Quayson has become so obsessed with the House that he paints it every month. OT House is emerging as the Best Place to Live
because of the white paint applied to it every month by their indefatigable Housemaster.
8. "Foyoo" is the new Sports master
The sports coach affectionately known in Kumasi as Foyooo became the replacement for Mr. Isaac Lartey, who left
Prempeh to pursue higher education in Finland.
Foyoo, who has made Tech Secondary School a household name in sports, especially hockey, is someone who can handle the difficult Prempeh
sports program. He has set out to achieve the same success his predecessor achieved at the college.
Foyoo is the man who revitalized Tech Sec sports and made them a household name in Ashanti in recent years. He is the reason
why Tech has been battling Prempeh in the finals of the Ashanti hockey competition every year. Hockey is traditionally
regarded as a boarding school sport; but Foyooo was able to transform Tech Sec - the day school affiliated with Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science & Technology into such a powerhouse that they defeated Prempeh in some annual finals. We can only imagine what he can
achieve at our boarding facility.
Prempeh.org will bring you more information about him later.
7. The Scourge of Mebaahagyaawo-ism
When Mr. Lartey was sports master, Mr. Ofosuhene was his assistant. However, the Assistant Sportsmaster
only taught PE classes and helped with only the hockey program. He never coached in football before. Nor did he ever participate in
the training of the soccer boys. He openly admits that football is not his specialty, so it is okay for him to be clueless in that sport.
However, the very moment "Foyoo" was brought in as Prempeh Sports master, Ofosuhene became so driven by jealousy that he refused to let
the new head coach do his job. Citing the legendary philosophy of mebaahagyaawo (I came here before you), he refused to let the new headcoach
coach the team in the opening round of the Ashanti football championship, causing us to lose 1-0 in the opening match because he selected
the wrong players. He selected what could be considered the school's Team "B,"
while the best players sat on the bench.
Most of the Prempeh team are members of professional and colts teams in Kumasi. Some even play in the Ghana prempier league. It is a well-established Prempeh
policy that players who have a training session with their pro teams are excused from Prempeh training sessions on days when their teams are training.
Even the new coach Foyoo is aware of this policy. But Ofosuhene, who has been working at Prempeh for years, was bereft of this
common knowledge. Consequently, the clueless Ofosuhene dropped nearly the entire starting lineup as "punishment for not attending training."
Check out the news story below:
Prempeh loses Painfully to Kings College 0-1
December 4, 2007
Obuasi, Ashanti -
Prempeh’s soccer team lost 0-1 to Kings College yesterday, December 4 at Obuasi. The loss, which was largely caused by Mr. Ofosuhene, who
was the coach on the day, ended the dream of the team in winning the Ashanti Regional Soccer competition.
Most of the players were quite down after the game and some of them had even sought permission and gone home to cool down. The goal
came barely 3 minutes to the end of the game.
Prempeh football stars - devastated after their defeat
The players said they were not happy with the line-up drawn by Mr. Ofosuhene who either dropped or benched most of the good players
on the grounds that they didn’t report for training on some occasions. But it was a clear case of misunderstanding on the part of
Mr. Ofosuhene who wasn’t prepared to listen to the players. The players play for some colts teams at Wesley College and therefore
train there at some of the times and join the College team when there is a match to play. They are in Form three now and perfectly
fit into the team quite easily after a few training sessions. That has been a Prempeh policy over the years, and we expected a man who has served
as Assistant Sports master for years to be aware of it. But the clueless Ofosuhene didn't.
When the team Captain, David Amoah Asare (Puyol) was asked to name some of the ‘stars’ in the team, he innocently mentioned some of
these players not knowing they were not going to start the game.
One of them, Sadat, just returned from Sweden, was benched and didn’t even wear his jersey at the start of the game. When the coach
saw that the battle had gotten tough and it was close to 5 minutes to the end of the game, he asked him to change and fielded him.
His presence was felt immediately but it was quite too late.
They still faced the same problem of being seen as not serious by some of the tutors of the college. Some pass very nasty comments
which demoralize the players. They pleaded for the intervention of the old students to sort out some of these issues.
6. I don't answer to Oldboys, you people can't sack me
Those were the remarks that made an angry Amanfoo audience almost choke Owusu-Achiaw at the December 7 Amanfoo General Assembly
at Sofoline. At the Old Boys meeting held at the Prempeh library that evening, Amanfoo took the opportunity to condemn Achiaw
for his overall incompetence. Achiaw told the crowd, "First of all, you people cannot sack me. I only answer to GES, not to old boys."
One Amanfoo asked the Headmaster, "Don't you think it is the old boys that help make the school what it is? How can you say
you do not answer to olboys?" Achiaw responded, "I understand that the Old Boys help, but GES put me here, not old boys. Only GES
and the Board can sack me, not Old Boys."
This is not the first time Achiaw has said such a thing. In fact, these words are very familiar. Herewith what he said to our PTA Chairman:
"Go away, I don't answer to a common PTA Chairman. Who the hell are you, go away. I only answer to Ghana Educational
Service. I don't respond to a PTA Chairman."
While many Amanfoo wanted his head, others wasted no time in debating Achiaw because they feel his ignorant statements about being only responsive to GES
is a byproduct of his "village (Dompoase) upbringing."
The commissioning of a Prempeh SRC project in February 2007. Senior Prefect & SRC President Francis Ainoo's
pet project he did with the SRC staff.
The headmaster of Prempeh College, who serves as the CHASS (Conference of Heads
of Assisted Schools)
Chairman showed his lack of knowledge and experience on student politics
and affairs in August 2007 when he appeared on a morning show at Kessben FM with some SRC
executives in the Ashanti Region.
The Headmaster disgraced himself and the college so much that all the listeners were querying, "how did this man
get a job as a headmaster?" Other listeners called it "CHASS Chairman knows nothing," while the more charitable listeners
stated "Students overshadow Head."
The subject of discussion and confusion between the SRC executives and the CHASS president was the SRC
funds that must go to the Students Representative Councils of the various schools in the Ashanti Region.
The funds are intended to be used to do something meaninful for the student body.
Prempeh Senior Prefect & SRC President Francis Ainoo is congratulated by the Head of Ghana's Methodist Church in February 2007
for an awesome mark the Prempeh SRC left at the college gate. headmaster Achiaw stood right next to the Senior Prefect during the proceedings
but still wasn't able to figure out that the SRC President is the same individual as the Senior Prefect.
Akwasi Owusu-Achiaw, the de-facto headmaster of all Ghanaian secondary schools (i.e., CHASS Chairman), stated last year on the morning show
that there is no money to be given to the Ashanti Regional Student Representative Council (ARSRC)
as it is not in the constitution.
While speaking, Achiaw cited the Prempeh College SRC as an example, stating, "At Prempeh, my Senior Prefect and my SRC President
are always fighting; the two boys always fight each other."
As shocking as this statement sounds, Achiaw made it and kept repeating it without realizing that Prempeh College Senior Prefect is the President
of the SRC. Yes, both positions are held by a single person, and it is common knowledge in all Kumasi schools that Prempeh SRC President
is the Senior Prefect of the school, yet the Headmaster of Prempeh College, who has sat in Prempeh SRC meetings chaired by Senior Prefect, is not
aware that it is the same individual.
The headmaster even took a photo with the SRC whereby the SRC president (the Senior Prefect) stood
on his left but Achiaw thinks that the Senior Prefect and the SRC President are 2 different individuals
What is more shocking is that the Headmaster has doled out money to Prempeh SRC President (i.e., the Senior Prefect) every year.
Under the reign of Stephen Ampong (2005/06 SP), the Prempeh SRC was
able to use some of this money to buy ceiling fans which makes the dining
hall a nice place to eat and curbed all the heat and sweats amidst the
delicious foods served.
2006/07 Senior Prefect and his SRC staff used their money to construct a new, elegant signboard
at the school gate, which was commissioned by the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana. The Headmaster
was present at the commisioning ceremony at the school gate and took a group photo with the Prempeh SRC, whose name appears on the
board as the donors.
He has handed money to Prempeh's SRC President every year for the past 6 years he has been at Sofoline, and anytime he calls the SRC President to
take the money, the Senior Prefect receives it, and yet he has never been able to figure out over the 6 year period that the Senior Prefect is the
same as the SRC President.
But this wasn't Achiaw's worse moment on the radio. The worse disgrace is described below.
Achiaw caused himself further disgrace by showing his ignorance on several issues.
The headmaster also stated that the Ashanti Regional SRC was formed some 5 years ago while
he was even a Guest Speaker at the 10th Anniversary celebration
of the ARSRC in Kumasi.
When the Ashanti Reginion SRC celebrated their 10th Anniversary, Achiaw was the one invited
to give the keynote address at the event. He went there and saw a banner on the stage that stated that
the 10th Anniversary was being celebrated. He took with him the event's program which highlighted the SRC's
achievements over a 10 year period.
It turns out Achiaw was never even cognizant of the program he had attended
and knew nothing about it. He went to the program to help celebrate the 10th Anniversary; he gave the keynote
address and still could not figure out it was a 10th Anniversary event that he attended.
In fact, his inability to know the "age' of the
ARSRC speaks volumes as he is the man who must get the interest of students
at heart.
Callers to the radio asked, "who is this dumb headmaster and how did he get a job?"
Sharp comments such as "dumb headmaster," "foolish CHASS Chairman," and "clueless villager" were aimed at him.
In fact, the Headmaster was so heavily attacked by the united students of Kumasi that, Ghana's Consulate-General to
the UN in New York, the Owarean Obeng Gyan Busia, who was visiting Kumasi at that time, jumped to the aid of Achiaw at the
radio studio, calming the fury of the young people and urging them to refrain from attacking an "elder" in such fashion.
But if Busia had been familiar with Achiaw's general ignorance on academic matters, he would not have wasted his time. Headmaster Owusu-Achiaw
is the man who entered Prempeh College Assembly Hall one morning in July and asked to see all the science quiz contestants only to
be booed and told by his students that the contestants have long since graduated and left campus. Achiaw never knew that final year
students were the ones selected to represent the school in the inter-schools National Science quiz competitions. He expressed a surprise at
his new discovery and explained to the college community that he "thought form 2 boys were the contestants." A Full Headmaster and Chairman of
Ghana's Conference of Heads of Assisted Schools does not even know what a science quiz competition entails.
CHASS Chairman, who is supposed to know a little about school curriculum, thinks that form 2 boys, based on just one-and-a-half years of school
would have completed enough of the science syllables to be able to represent their school in competitions?
The Ashanti SRC also hosted its annual congress at Prempeh College. The congress is held yearly in August at a school in Kumasi, where they normally
hold the event free of charge. In fact, OWASS Headmaster is usually proud to have the congress held at Santasi for free. All the other schools open their
doors to the SRC to have them hold their congress.
Hoowever, when they decided to host the event at Sofoline, Prempeh headmaster charged them 10 million cedis. 10 million cedis was placed in Achiaw's
hand and the money has since disappeared from Prempeh's coffers without a trace.
Just like the asthma funds, Achiaw thought nobody would know he has collected such funds.
There was a major setback in the construction of the new, ultra-modern Assembly Hall at Prempeh College.
The building, which was supposed to have been completed by now, had a major part of it broken down by the architects on the order
of Prempeh headmaster.
Prempeh.org has figured out that anytime the new building is nearing its completion, Achiaw will lawlessly have parts of it destroyed
and restarted because, traditionally headmasters do not get transferred from their school until projects they started becomes complete.
Sensing that his days at Prempeh are numbered, Achiaw keeps destroying the government facility in an attempt to prolong his tenure at the College.
He has realised that if the building becomes complete, he will leave Prempeh in August 2008. However, if the contractors fail to complete
it ahead of schedule, his contract could be extended until January 2009.
Deliberate destruction of government property is a high crime that should not go unpunished.
1. When will you take responsibility for your actions?
Senior Mpiani shaking hands with new graduates
During the December 8 Speech Day, headmaster Akwasi Owusu-Achiaw was taking his special guest Senior Kwadwo Mpiani, President Kufuor's Chief of Staff,
on tour of the campus when they came across a dirty site filled with so many cobwebs.
Senior Mpiani, himself a product of Serwah House, inquired why
the college was so dirty and the cobwebs were not cleared.
Even a 10-year-old kid could have found an intelligent and responsible reply. A simple admission of an "oversight" would have been excellent.
A reply such as "This is an oversight; my boys did their job, they just missed a spot" would have been so perfect.
Yet this was Achiaw's response: "This is the job of Serwah Housemaster, to whom I assigned this task. He just failed to do his job."
What? Serwah Housemaster is the reason why there are cobwebs in the school?
It is difficult to know where to begin with the folly of a headmaster who becomes confident with selling a story to a full presidential
deputy that the cleaning of cobwebs and gutters are the domain of housemasters in Ghana. Where in Ghana do we have housemasters cleaning
gutters and removing filth? This only depicts the mindset of a man who never takes responsibility for his actions. Achiaw has never
taken any responsibility for anything. Whenever he fails, he places the blame on someone else.
If he had stayed in the school, he could have figured out something was not being done. Instead, he assigns all his duties to his deputies to do
so that he can go to handle his own business in town. All the jobs similar to what other headmasters normally do at other schools are passed down by Achiaw to his deputies to handle (the very reason
why Mr. Dwamenah almost pounced on him in May 2007, refer to Number 12 above) because
he does not love the school enough to stay in it. Achiaw leaves the school at around 6am everyday, jumps into one of the 5 cars he owns, and
head into the city. Throughout the whole of 2007 Achiaw was rarely seen at morning Assembly.
