Govt to help stop encroachment on Achimota School lands
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that his government will work to bring a decisive end to the problem of encroachment on lands belonging to Achimota School.
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Describing the encroachments on the school’s land as “concerted”, the President said Ghanaians were horrified at the thought of the school, a national asset, being destroyed.
“The problem of encroachment on your school lands will receive urgent attention from my government. Not only attention but, even more importantly, a satisfactory solution,” the President assured.
President Nana Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he delivered an address to commemorate the 90th Founder’s Day of Achimota School in Accra on Saturday.
Safety and security of school
He said Achimota School did not belong to only those who had attended the school, thus the safety and security of the school ought not and could not be the responsibility for only the old students.
“Achimota is a national icon. It belongs to the people of Ghana and the conversation about what happens to Achimota cannot be limited to a discussion within these walls,” the President stated.
He bemoaned the encroachment on school lands across the country, saying it posed grave consequences to students and called for decisive steps to be employed in halting such practices.
The government, he said, would support old students of the school in their quest to construct a wall around the boundaries of the school.
Ghana 60 years on
Commenting on the state of affairs of the country years after independence, the President said it could not be right that 60 years after independence, Ghana should be in its current state of poverty and misery.
“But I do not want to simply bemoan our present conditions. I urge you to lend me your wholehearted support for this government and the efforts we have begun to make to build a happy and prosperous nation,” he urged.
He said hard work and a consistent fight against corruption in public life would bring the transformation that Ghanaians yearned for.
“Make your presence felt by setting the example for hard work and incorruptibility; after all, you are the leaders everywhere and your example should make a difference,” he said.
He commended the school for turning out products that had made and continued to make positive impact at all levels of national life.
President Nana Akufo-Addo drew a comparison between the kind of educational system that was run in the past and what pertained currently, questioning whether the Achimota School of old was the same as the current.
President Akufo-Addo receiving a photo of Achimota School from Mrs Beatrice Adom (2nd right), Headmistress of Achimota School, and Mr Osei Agyemang (right), Board Chairman of the school
Improve institutions
He also questioned why after the school had produced so many quality leaders, the nation found itself where it was 60 years after independence.
“Obviously, the conditions in 1927 were different from the 2017 state of affairs of our country and we should not expect the Achimota of today to be as the same one of the old. We should build on what we have and constantly improve on our institutions. But it is also important that we try to maintain the characteristics that gave a place such as Achimota the winning formula. Today, we have a student population of over 3,000. This would have been unimaginable when some old students were here. This situation comes with a different set of difficulties that the teachers and the students have to deal with,” he admitted.
Needs of school
Earlier, the Headmistress of the school, Ms Beatrice T. Adom, appealed to President Akufo-Addo to help secure the school's land from encroachers.
She described the situation as a distraction to teaching and learning activities.
Ms Adom said one key need of the school was an 18-unit classroom block to facilitate its academic programmes.
The President assured her that the Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, who was also present at the function, had taken note and would act on it.