News
Kobidi AME Zion School teachers, pupils back to school …after rituals to revoke curses
Teaching and learning resumed on Monday at Kobidi AME Zion primary and Junior High School as teachers and learners returned to school after a week break occasioned by a delusion over the death of two headmasters and a teacher.
This was after rituals had been performed by the chief priest of the area – Kobidi, to stop the strange deaths recorded in the school.
The town, located in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region, was in the news last week following the death of two headmasters and a teacher of the school.
When The Spectator visited the school premises last week, it was totally deserted with parents complaining as the children roam in town.
The death of the two were initially attributed to curses invoked on the school authorities by a disgruntled learner who was unhappy about some treatment.
But from a follow-up by The Spectator on the latest development, it emerged that the curse was actually invoked by an occasional visitor to the school who many considered as mentally unbalanced.
After consultation with the traditional authorities, rituals were performed for learners and teachers to return to school.
According to the Queen mother of the town, Nana Ansu Ameyaa Gyeabour who addressed a press conference, the performance of the rituals followed consultations with the chief priest of the area.
“The nature of the issue required that we consult the chief priest of the town. It was after that consultation that he requested three rams, fowls, bottle of schnapps and some cash amount to prepare the rituals,” she said.
She explained that traditionally, that cost should have being on the family of the man that invoked the curses but due to the financial constraints, members of the community were made to contribute to pay.
“Under normal circumstances, the family of the man that invoked the curse was supposed to bear the cost of the fine but were financially constraint. As a result, households were levied Gh₵100 each to raise the money.”
Narrating the full story, the Assembly Member of the area, known as Mr Boateng said the mentally deranged man occasionally visited the school to demand a portion of food served the children under the national school feeding programme.
And most of the time, Mr Boateng said, he was denied.
Mr Boateng, said one of the days when his request was refused, he got angry and rained curses on the school authorities, specifically calling the death of any staff that embezzled any fund belonging to the school.
Subsequently, two successive head teachers and a teacher have died but what cannot be confirmed was whether it was associated with the curses and whether the three victims embezzled school funds.
Strangely, the perceived mental patient would return a day or two after the deaths to remind the staff of his curses.
That obviously caused fear and panic among the staff, culminating in the closure of the school from May 18 until last Friday’s rituals to pacify the gods and revoke the curses.
The perceived mentally challenged man has currently been excommunicated from the township for safety reasons and is reported to be in Chiraa, a nearby town.
From Daniel Dzirasah, Kobidi
The Danish Children Fund (DCF), a Denmark-based NGO supporting children’s education, has encouraged students to prioritise their education and desist from misuse and abuse of drugs to enhance their holistic growth and development.
The call was made during a day’s sensitisation seminar on drug abused for students in Tamale to help them make informed life choices and stay away from abusing drug substances.
The event, held under an initiative dubbed: ‘Youths in Focus,’ brought together students, teachers and officials from the Ghana Police Service, Narcotics Control Commission and Ghana Education Service to educate young people on the dangers associated with drugs abused and their addiction trends.
Mr Benjamin Yin, Project Manager of DCF and Headmaster of Kalpohin SDA Basic School, speaking during the event, said the intervention was necessitated by increasing concerns over drugs abused among the youth in Tamale.
He said the organisation, which primarily focused on supporting needy children to remain in school, recognised the need to complement educational support with interventions that empowered young people to make responsible decisions.
Mr Yin highlighted some achievements of the DCF in the education sector in Tamale and said the organisation currently sponsored 55 vulnerable children to remain in school, most of whom were orphans.
He explained that out of the number, 23 beneficiaries were at Kalpohin SDA School, 18 at Tamale SDA School and 15 at Jakarayili School.
He said the support package included learning materials, food and other essential items to prevent school dropouts.
Beyond educational sponsorship, he said the organisation had invested in educational infrastructure to improve learning environments in beneficiary schools.
The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Richard Akumi, Deputy Northern Regional Crime Officer, who addressed the students during the event, described the abuse of drugs among young people as a major challenge requiring collective action.
He said the Ghana Police Service had intensified efforts to tackle the abuse of drug in the region through law enforcement operations and community sensitisation programmes.
ASP Mr Akumi noted that the Northern Regional Police Command’s Special Operations Team had been carrying out operations across Tamale to dismantle drug hotspots and arrest suspects involved in drug-related activities. –GNA
Mr Samuel Akrasi, Principal of the Otaakrom Technical Institute in the Atwima Mponua District, has urged the media and research institutions to pay greater attention to youth unemployment after second-cycle education in the country.
He said increased reportage and research on unemployment among graduates of senior high schools and other second-cycle institutions would help create awareness at both grassroots and national levels and compel authorities and stakeholders to take the necessary steps to address the challenge.
Mr Akrasi made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of four workshops for the Institute.
He stressed the need for the media and researchers to investigate and publish data on unemployed graduates from senior high schools and other second-cycle institutions, noting that, in his view, the number of unemployed youth from such institutions exceeded those from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
According to him, TVET institutions produced more employable and self-employed youth than other second-cycle institutions in the country.
Mr Akrasi appealed for increased investment in TVET institutions through improved infrastructure, logistics, and training support to make technical education more attractive and accessible to the youth.
The principal noted that TVET education was becoming increasingly modernised and described the proposed workshops, expected to be completed within 18 months, as timely and beneficial to trainees.
The $7.5 million project, funded by the Social Investment Fund (SIF), includes an administration block and modern workshops for the Fashion Designing, Catering, Electricals, and Agro-Processing Departments of the Institute.
Mr Abass Nurudeen, Chief Executive Officer of SIF, said the project formed part of the 28 million-dollar Post-COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP), which seeks to improve the local economy by empowering the youth with employable skills under the TVET programme.
Mr Issahak Ibrahim, District Chief Executive for Atwima Mponua, described the project as a symbol of hope, opportunity and innovation that would help nurture a skilled generation for the district and beyond. –GNA
