Annex to existing building entrance
Annex to existing building entrance

Commonwealth Hall revives interest in Annexe Project

One of the highlights of this year’s annual Republic Day Jamboree organised by the Old Vandals Association, the alumni of Commonwealth Hall of the University of Ghana, and that took place on Saturday, July 6, was the launch of the Vandal City Annexe Project, estimated to cost about $30 million. The jamboree was held on the theme: “Living Our Value of Altruism: Charity begins at Home”

It was another memorable gathering of Old Vandals of different generations at their famous hall to socialise and make merry while thinking about what they can do for their hall, what they can contribute, no matter how small, to improve on existing facilities and make life more comfortable for the current students who face more challenges today than their senior colleagues who passed through the hall several years ago in comfort.

Apart from the usual dancing and singing of inspirational songs, eating and drinking associated with any gathering of Old Vandals on such occasions, there were other activities such as the handing over of the refurbished Alumni Office, appeal for funds for the Lavatories Refurbishment Project and the launch of an endowment fund in memory of Emmanuel Nartey (aka Lion), a member of the fraternity who passed away not quite long ago.

Launch of the annexe project

As I have already mentioned, top on the agenda at this year’s jamboree was the launch of the annexe project. The recently retired judge of the Court of Appeal, Justice Saeed Kwaku Gyan, was given the honour to launch the annexe project. I don’t think there was a better choice since Justice Kwaku Gyan has always been present at such gatherings of Old Vandals and if my memory serves me right he has never missed any Republic Day Jamboree or homecoming during the past decade and a half, always in the company of his adorable and lovely wife, Hajia.

I think it was significant that Justice Kwaku Gyan was the one given the honour to do the official launch. As he stepped forward, he reminded the Old Vandals that the duty he was going to perform was not a launch but a relaunch of the annexe project.

“If I can go back memory lane, this same project was launched several years ago, at least more than a decade ago. So what I am about to do today is the relaunch of the project since the earlier one, for reasons I cannot fathom now, was never pursued to its logical conclusion,” he told the gathering at the Commonwealth Hall gardens.
That was a good talk. Many of the young ones among the Old Vandals did not know much or anything about this but it was the truth.
I remember vividly that the first sod-cutting ceremony was performed in 2003 by the late Prof. Kwadwo Asenso–Okyere, who was Vice-Chancellor at the time, near the present tennis court adjacent to the hall and separated by the main road leading to the Registry and the Great Hall.

V-Cap Committee

There was a committee, known as the V-Cap Committee, put in place four years earlier, when Prof. Asenso-Okyere was the Hall Master, to mobilise funds and resources from Old Vandals in the country and in the Diaspora, friends of Commonwealth Hall and other corporate bodies.

The committee was under the chairmanship of Mr Felix Addo, a Chartered Accountant and a proud Old Vandal who was then the Country Director at PriceWater House. Several meetings were held at the hall and at the residence of Nana Akuoko Sarpong, the Omanhene of Agogo Traditional Area, who was then the Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Old Vandals.

The old V-Cap project was later abandoned by the Committee because of financial constraints. Moreover, the establishment of new halls of residence reduced accommodation problems on campus and many thought it was no longer necessary to embark on an annexe project for Commonwealth Hall since accommodation was available to students all over campus.

Almost a decade and a half on, the situation has changed once again because of the enormity of challenges faced by many students, parents and guardians in the quest to secure campus accommodation in general and at Commonwealth Hall in particular.

It must be noted that Commonwealth Hall is the only traditional hall without an annexe because of its strategic location on a hill facing the rest of the university, with little space left for development, as was believed early on.

It is because of the worsening accommodation problems at the university in recent times that the management of Commonwealth Hall decided to revisit the annexe project and to solicit the support of the Old Vandals to reach out to alumni, home and abroad, for the project to see the light of day.

Appeal for support

Now everything is set for Commonwealth Hall to have an annexe of its own. The management of the hall is ready. The Old Vandals are ready for the project to take off, and funds are available.

Speaking at the jamboree, the Master of Commonwealth Hall, Prof. Frank Nyame, said Kumvest Holdings, a corporate investment group geared toward big-term investment, had been selected as the strategic investors to undertake the project with support from OVA regional branches in Ghana and collaboration from OVA branches in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

According to the Hall Master, the drawings and architectural designs had been prepared by the internationally renowned Design Excellence, a consortium of Architects, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and Quantity Surveyors.

Key personnel of the consortium— led by Mr Koli Acquah – Dodd and including Sophia Suapiam, Solomon Qguah and John Aryertey, a Quantity Surveyor — were present at the jamboree to present the drawings to the Old Vandals.

Prof. Nyame stressed that the annexe building project would have a total number of standard occupancy of about 4,200 with four floors, made up of blocks A to D.

He said the Residential Facilities User Fee allocation to Commonwealth Hall was on the low side because of the student population, adding that the completion of the project would increase the allocation to the Hall for the better.

Prof. Nyame said he was hopeful that the sod-cutting ceremony for the project would be performed before the end of this month.

It was for the reason that Justice Kwaku Gyan urged all Old Vandals and the university authorities to support the project since it would be a dream come true and would help ease the accommodation challenges of the university.

He hinted that the quality of the facility was very congenial for university education “and for me, it is a welcome piece of news.”

Writer’s e-mail: [email protected] or Tel. 0275 193140

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