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La Anobil Basic School needs fencewall …as school children turn old graveyard into playground
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• Sergeant C. F. Adjetey grave grows with weeds
The pupils of La Anobil Basic School for many years have been compelled to live with the “dead” as a century-old abandoned cemetery serves as a playground and walkway.
The abandoned cemetery with about 70 broken old graves surrounded by other schools including St Paul’s Primary and Junior High Schools further serves as a walkway for some residents in the area.
The presence of the damaged tombstones has become impediment to pupils during play hours.
Mrs Habiba Kutumah, the Municipal Director of Education of La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA) said the situation was very challenging for them especially when visitors came around but there was little they could do as owners of the land were not cooperative in finding solution to the worrying scene.
She said owners of the land removed the constructed fence which separated the cemetery from the schools and all efforts to get the area re-fenced had not yielded results.
She said the assembly had been informed about the situation and there were plans to put the graveyard back in shape as the school and the assembly continued to engage the owners of the land.
When contacted, Mr. Solomon Kotey Nikoi, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) admitted the assembly had some years back fenced the area to preserve and protect prominent persons buried there but persons claiming ownership of the land did not maintain it.
He agreed that the grave yard, in its present form, was an eyesore but said the assembly was considering other temporary solutions.
In a brief statement on the issue, the La ‘Shikitele’ or Kingmaker of La, Nii Adjei Akoofeh IV indicated that, the Traditional Council was in charge of all royal and other cemeteries within the assembly but the issue around the abandoned cemetery would best be handled by the assembly.
“Although all royal and other cemeteries are under the care of the Traditional Council, it is also directly under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Assembly and they have the final say on how the place is managed” he explained.
He said the only way to ensure safety was proper fencing of the graveyard.
“It is very important the place is properly preserved or the remains be exhumed to a different location to enable the school children free access to their compound without them having to walk or play around the tombs,” he noted.
The Former MCE of LaDMA and current Member of Parliament (MP) for La Dade-Kotopon Constituency, Ms. Rita Odoley Sowah said, the place in question was fenced during her time as the MCE.
She agreed the area needed proper and stronger wire fencing that could stand the test of time to ward off both school children and the community members.
Mr. Aaron Annan Akronge, the Assembly man of Labone Electoral Area, confirmed the Assembly had, some years ago, fenced the grave yard and provided lighting but the barrier had broken and the lights stolen.
By Victor A. Buxton
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged the government to place all 54,985 candidates affected by the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) placement exercise in schools and publish the final outcome.
The party says the government must ensure that the affected candidates secure actual school places rather than merely being allowed to access the self-placement portal.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party expressed concern about the situation facing the candidates.
The NPP said the government had announced that 53,887 of the affected candidates could use the self-placement system after initially being told that they had not qualified for secondary school.
It, however, argued that access to the portal did not guarantee that candidates would secure their preferred schools or programmes.
“Ghanaian parents and candidates will judge the resolution of the challenge by one thing only: how many of the original 54,985 are sitting in a classroom, not how many were allowed to open a website,” the statement noted.
The party said the government’s own figures showed that the country had 859,828 declared vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates.
It explained that the main challenge was the concentration of demand in a small number of highly subscribed schools.
The NPP noted that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools had 76,417 declared vacancies.
It therefore called on the government to explore ways to improve schools with available spaces, including providing teachers, laboratories and better programmes.
The party urged the government to use the 85 private schools participating in the Free SHS programme to absorb candidates who remained without placements.
The NPP further called for clarification of the rule and pass mark used for this year’s placement exercise, saying parents were entitled to know the standard before their children sat the examination.
It urged the government to take urgent action to ensure that the affected candidates were not left behind in the transition to secondary education.
By: Jacob Aggrey
General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong, has filed his nomination to contest the position of General Secretary again as the party begins its rebuilding efforts ahead of the 2028 general elections.
He was accompanied by party stalwarts and supporters who were in high spirits, expressing confidence that he is the right person to hold the position.
Speaking after filing his nomination, Mr Kodua Frimpong assured the rank and file of the party that he would not disappoint them.
“I can assure you that the faith the rank and file of the party have had in me, I will never disappoint them,” he said.
He also pledged to run a clean campaign devoid of personal attacks.
“I can assure you that our internal campaign will be devoid of personal attacks,” he told his fellow contestants and the rank and file of the party as he seeks to retain his position.
His tenure has seen the party through the 2024 general elections, where the NPP lost power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after eight years in government.
The party is currently in a rebuilding phase, with internal elections scheduled to elect new national executives to lead its reorganization towards the 2028 polls.
The General Secretary position is considered one of the most influential in the party’s administrative structure, responsible for the day-to-day running of the party secretariat and implementation of party decisions.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
