‘Xenophobia’ hits Banda Ahenkro. Teachers, other workers flee
Public sector workers, including teachers and nurses, have deserted their posts at Banda Ahenkro, the capital of the Banda District in the Brong Ahafo Region, for fear of their lives.
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Following the action by the workers to desert the district, the heath centre at Ahenkro and 40 schools in the district have been closed down.
The situation was occasioned by a notice that was posted at various public places by unidentified people who described themselves as “Concerned Members of Banda Ahenkro” threatening that they were not ready to stay peacefully with “strangers” in the community.
The notice, headlined: “To Whom It May Concern”, stated: “This is to inform all strangers working in this community/schools that we are not ready to stay peacefully with you in this community.”
“If you do not leave this district, then we cannot guarantee your safety here,” it went on, adding: “What happened to strangers in South Africa will happen to you.”
“What happened to the Faith School in 2016 will repeat itself. We cannot sit down for you to take over job opportunities from us,” it concluded.
Response
Teachers in more than 40 schools in the area, nurses at the health centre at Banda Ahenkro, as well as workers in the various departments within the district, have responded to the threat by leaving the town in droves.
An official of the Banda District Assembly told the Daily Graphic that “more than 70 per cent of workers in the area have vacated their posts”, leading to the closure of the institutions.
He explained that similar threats issued some time ago led to the mysterious death of two workers, including a district director of education.
Faith School
Investigations into the matter of the Faith School mentioned in the notice indicated that a teacher (non-citizen) of the school who had problems with some local people died mysteriously, while a district director of education also died under similar circumstances.
“The notice is, therefore, enough to threaten workers in government institutions, including schools and health facilities, to vacate their posts,” a worker in the district told the Daily Graphic.
Police
Speaking on a Sunyani-based FM station, the Wenchi Divisional Commander of Police, ACP Sebastian Atsu Humega, stated that the police had last Friday picked intelligence about the threat issued by some unidentified people in Banda Ahenkro.
He said he personally visited the town and held a meeting with the District Coordinating Director on the issue, adding that as of the time of his visit, almost all the civil servants had deserted their posts.
ACP Humega stated that police reinforcement had been dispatched to assist policemen on the ground to avert any possible harm to people the unidentified group described as “strangers”.
He indicated that the police would intensify day and night patrols to assure the so-called strangers of their safety.
Ghana Education Service
Meanwhile, the Headmaster of the Banda R.C. Basic School, Mr Jones Agyeman, has confirmed that the Ghana Education Service (GES) has ordered the closure of all schools in the district as a result of insecurity.