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“Free Range” at Avatime SHS … students lack toilets
Students of the Avatime Senior High School (AVASEC) at Vane in the Ho West District of the Volta Region are said to be defecating indiscriminately in the open with impunity, not only on campus but also in the neighbourhoods due to lack of adequate and decent toilets .
This became the subject matter for discussion at the last quarterly meeting of the Congress of Ho West Paramount Chiefs and Queens at Dzolo-Kpuita during the yuletide.
Osie Adza Tekpor VII, President of the congress who touched on the issue, revealed that some of the students dug shallow holes in the open and defecated in them while others did it in polythene bags.
As a result, the campus and the surroundings of the town are strewn with excrement with the accompanying stench, and health risks making life unbearable in the town, which is the traditional capital of the Avatime Traditional Area.
Osie Adza Tekpor said the sordid and soaring trend was not only disgraceful but also an affront to the status of the second cycle institution.
Worse still, he said, the state of affairs coincided with ongoing efforts by the Avatime traditional authorities to woo foreign and local investors to the area to revive potato, apple and grape cultivation, and also perk up the tourism industry at Avatime.
“The nasty scenes and the surroundings filled with repugnant odour would turn away the investors,” the Osie bemoaned.
Meanwhile, Onetsitsie Osei Yawa VIII, Paramount Queen of Avatime sought to know how students of a second cycle institution could be so morally depraved that they threw polythene bags with excrement even into church premises.
“This is horrifying, indeed,” she grieved.
The congress called on the assembly to rise up and address the problem by providing toilets in the school this month, before all the students returned to campus.
Responding, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ernest Victor Apau gave the assurance that, the problem would be tackled as a matter of priority, not only at AVASEC but also at other senior high schools in the district.
He said that, a water closet project at Kpedze Senior High School was nearing completion.
From Alberto Mario Noretti, Dzolo-Kpuita
A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with hard labour by the Bekwai Circuit Court for his role in a 2022 robbery at a mining site at Manso Akwasiso in the Ashanti South Region.
The convict, Dominic Ofori, also known as Fanta, was arrested on 16th February 2026 after years on the run. He pleaded guilty before the Bekwai Circuit Court to robbery contrary to Section 149 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 Act 29, and was accordingly sentenced to 25 years imprisonment with hard labour.
On March 20, 2022, the Manso Adubia District Police received intelligence that a group of armed men from Manso Abodom were planning to attack a mining site at Manso Akwasiso to rob the owner of gold concentrate. Acting on the information, police mounted a coordinated operation and laid an ambush at the site.
At about 5:30 pm the same day, four-armed men arrived at the site, fired indiscriminately, and robbed the miners of their gold concentrate. The police team on surveillance intervened, resulting in an exchange of gunfire.
Three of the suspects, Abu Abubakar, Musah Latif, and Gideon Takyi, sustained gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead on arrival at St Martins Catholic Hospital at Agroyesum. Dominic Ofori escaped at the time but was later arrested and put before the court.
The Ashanti South Regional Police Command has assured the public of its continued commitment to combating violent crimes and bringing offenders to justice.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command has arrested 45-year-old Isaac Boafo, also known as “Duabo King,” for allegedly publishing false news intended to cause fear and panic.
Police said the arrest follows a viral TikTok video in which Boafo claimed that four officers at the Central Police Station in Kumasi engaged in inappropriate conduct with commercial sex workers during night patrols in Asafo.
Officers from the Police Intelligence Directorate (Ashanti Region) apprehended Boafo after receiving intelligence about the video.
During questioning, he admitted to creating the video to attract views and engagement online, and acknowledged that he could not prove the allegations.
Boafo also admitted making comments about the President of the Republic for content purposes and could not defend those statements.
He has been formally charged and is in detention as investigations continue.
The Ashanti Regional Police have warned the public against publishing or sharing false information on social media, noting that such acts can cause fear, panic, and damage reputations.
They said anyone found engaging in similar conduct will face legal action.
By: Jacob Aggrey
