This is the reason why some Amanfoo do not like to give back to Prempeh: Old boy gave headmaster money to set up an Asthma Foundation
and waited 3 years without seeing any foundation set up; headmaster refuses to acknowledge recieving the money. He will not cooperate in
private discussions, leaving the Old boy with only the option of using this medium.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Three years ago, California-based Senior Kwaku Danso, Class of '67 and a product of Ramseyer,
contacted us about his need to introduce "Medicinal Delivery System" in the form of "an Asthma Foundation" at Prempeh College.
Dr. Kwaku Danso writes the column JFK's Opinion
on this website
As an asthmatic himself, he used to walk from Sofoline to Komfo Anokye Hospital in the '60s during times of asthmatic crises. One
can only imagine the horror of an asthma patient, out of breath, running through the streets of Bantama to make it to the hospital
just to be able to breathe again. And that is what makes the story that follows very chilling (Read On!).
Since he was on the verge of visiting Ghana in 2004, he made us put him in touch with
Mr. Owusu Achiaw, Prempeh headmaster, so that he could donate the seed money for the
establishment of the much needed foundation.
We posted Senior Danso's noble proposal on this website for Amanfoo to
read, hoping that he will return to give us an update after his meeting with the Headmaster. But we did not hear from him until now.
It turns out Senior Danso privately gave the headmaster C5,000,000 (without informing this website or even the Prempeh staff) to be used to start the foundation by purchasing drugs for use by Prempeh students.
Senior Kwaku could be forgiven for acting this way because, having lived abroad all his adult life, he felt that everything is as transparent in Ghana as it is in the States.
He thought the headmaster would announce it to the whole school that asthma medications were now available.
The old boy
had the plan to lobby his friends abroad to contribute to the fund so that Prempeh would never run out of medications.
Obviously, the Headmaster, also Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Schools (CHASS) and de-facto Headmaster
of all Ghanaian secondary schools by virtue of that position, should have purchased the drugs and announced to the whole school that such a
facility was now available.
But that never happened. And after 3 years, Senior Danso returned to our forums to pose an interesting question:
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ASTHMA FOUNDATION
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Amanfo,
Can somebody please ask the Headmaster what he did with the money I donated for setting up an Asthma Foundation to help students who have asthma?
It's going on two years now and I'd like anybody to report to me by email if any medicines were ever purchased for students in need. Why could the Headmaster not even have the courtesy to correspond and give me a feedback. C5 Million may not be a lot of money, but it was to be a start for those who may need help with their Asthma and may not have to leave school and miss classes for half a day simply to be in line at Okomfo Anokye Hospital to get simple medication.
Thanks,
Dr. Kwaku A. Danso
(aka Danso JFK - Class of 1960-65/67 Ramseyer House)
Fremont, California, USA
Email: k.danso@comcast.net
But since the headmaster has become very mute on this issue and even gone to the extent of telling some
students that "nothing happened," we are being compelled to inform Amanfoo so that they could confront Mr. Achiaw
at the forthcoming Pearson-Osae Lecture and next month's Speech Day. The Headmaster has had over 2 months to comment on this issue but has so far refused, hoping that the story
will be thrown away with the Christmas wrapping paper by the end of the year.
The Headmaster actually had a second chance to rectify the problem but refused. Senior Danso first made his inquiry about the
status of the money in August 2007. The Headmaster could have announced it during reopening Day on September 10 that
there was an asthma foundation he had forgotten to mention. That would have easily resolved the problem. But we are in the middle of the term now
and he refuses to make the
foundation available for the boys or answer questions about the money.
We believe that any one of the following four incidents happened:
1. The Headmaster took the money and placed it in a drawer in his office and forgot to open the drawer so the money has been sitting
there all these years, untouched; OR
2. The Headmaster used the cash to purchase drugs which he kept in his office but forgot to tell the students. So, the drugs are
still in his office, expired and useless at this time. OR
3. The Headmaster put the money in a savings account in the bank under the name "Prempeh Asthma Foundation." And that money has been yielding interest and growing all these years; OR
4. The Headmaster spent the money on himself and never informed anyone that such a donation has been made.
Now, which of these 4 situations do you believe happened?
