In the second book of his famous work on the history of Rome, Livy has described how Menenius Agrippa, sent out by the Roman Senate to
attempt to bring about a reconciliation with the Plebeians who were on strike, told them the fable of the revolt of the limbs against
the stomach, stressing the necessity of the cooperation of all parts in the interest of the whole. This
cooperation, or consensus partium, is normally expected to exist between a headmaster and his PTA Chairman, principally for the interest
of the school.
But for the first time in our history, a Prempeh headmaster has made it clear that he will not answer to a PTA; he only answers to the "more significant"
Ghana Education Service.
We wrote a story about how our PTA Chair came to campus to find the graduating seniors sleeping in complete darkness and not getting any lights to
study for the WASSCE exam at night.
The PTA Chairman delivered this new generator to the school in September following his disagreement with Headmaster Owusu-Achiaw
during the WASSCE exam season.
The PTA Chairman had driven his car to Santasi to observe for himself that OWASS had electricity on their campus while Prempeh was in
complete darkness. OWASS headmaster Mr. Stephen "One-Mole" Anokye, mindful of the prevalent energy crisis in the country at that time,
had had the foresight to secure a generator and enough fuel to sustain Opoku Ware Secondary School throughout the whole examination season.
When the PTA Chairman, who represents the PTA on the Prempeh Board of Governors, presented Headmaster Owusu-Achiaw with his findings,
the Headmaster (in the full glare of students and in a public place) rebuked the all-powerful PTA Chairman for comparing his "former
small-boy" to him. "He was my Assistant; he served under me. He was my small-boy; how can you compare him to me? 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."
Yes, the fact that the PTA Chairman will cast a vote that will decide the headmaster's fate in a few months was completely and foolishly overlooked!
Prempeh boys went on to fail the exam horribly this year. Consequently the Headmaster refused to highlight any academic achievements
in his Speech day
address this year -- the first time that has ever happened -- while OWASS beat Prempeh in nearly every category on the exam. Not a single word
about academics was said in his address, and he refused to hand in his speech for publication.
The man on the left (OWASS headmaster) has shown his counterpart on the right
that with a little more passion, intelligence and foresight, success could be easily achieved.
For example, while OWASS achieved 122 "A" grades in Integrated Science, Prempeh earned only 72 A's in the subject, though we presented
more candidates than the Santasi school. The Owareans crushed Prempeh in every category on the exam, which is unprecedented.
The PTA Chair struck back on Friday at Sofoline. At the Old Boys meeting held at the College library, the headmaster, who had been lambasted
by the old boys for his lack of passion and his general incompetence, started a topic by quoting the PTA Chairman repeatedly. But the Chairman
interjected, warning Owusu-Achiaw, who spends all his time off campus attending to the hotel he is building,
not to ever use his name or quote him again. "Don't quote me again, don't mention my name because you know I have not seen you on
this campus in 3 months. Stop using my name, you're never here!"
The Headmaster never attends to any school matters because he is hardly ever on campus. It took Prefects 3 weeks to get him to have a chat.
Finding Akwasi Owusu-Achiaw on Prempeh campus is harder than finding Osama bin Laden in his Afghan hideout. His private business interest is the
only thing that concerns him.
