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Labone Secondary School: a brief history
A section of Labone Senior High School students Photo: Lizzy Okai
The genesis of Labone Secondary School can be found in the students and teachers who left the Christine Smith Institute at Merry Villas, Asafoatse Nettey Road, Accra, in 1949 and founded the Labone College as it was then known.
Prominent among them were Rev. Matei Markwei, Principal, Mr Alpheus Kofi Ansah Johnson, Assistant Principal, Mr Joseph Andoh Kesson and Mr John Spencer Bilson.
The college was started in January 1949 in a cluster of buildings belonging to Messrs Armah, Okpoto, Osofo Ashalley and Anang of KlannaAbormi. These housed the dormitories, dining hall and Science Laboratory.
During Mid-March, 1949, a catastrophe hit the school. Fire engulfed the school destroying the personal effects of the students. Both the dormitory and laboratory were totally burnt down. Fortunately there were no loss of lives as the boarders had left for the Presbyterian School (Salem) for games.
The school authorities were finding it difficult to pay the salaries of teachers and it became increasingly difficult to sustain good academic work. Eventually a two-storey building was secured at Teshie. Girls were for the first time admitted into the school.
In the latter part of 1950, other teething problems began to show up at Teshie. These problems were scarcity of water, the distance from the school to Accra and Osu, transport problems and bus fares payable by the day students to and from the school. This resulted in a fall in the numerical strength of the students.
To arrest the situation from getting worse, the authorities started looking for a place to move the school again. Rent arrears which had been a perennial problem reached its zenith. Rent arrears at $300 and Ataa Boi, the landlord, ejected the school from his premises.
Through the help of Mr Okwei Mensah and Mr W.K. Ollenu and others, another accommodation was secured at Tenashie now popularly known as ‘Ako Adjei’. It was the new building of Mr D.A.K. Sowah, a private businessman.
In 1951 the school moved to the premises of Mr D.A.K Sowah. It was during this stage that the school experienced a new lease of life. The school came under a newly formed Educational Unit (formed by Dr Nkrumah to cater for all schools and colleges in the country).
On November 10, 1951, the school was formally inaugurated and it operated under a new name —Ghana College Christianborg. In 1952, Mr Joseph Andor Kesson, one of the Co-founders left the school leaving Mr A.K.A. Johnson, the Headmaster as the only surviving co-founder in the school.
The financial problems which had plagued the school previously could still not be overcome. Money raised through student’s school fees could not pay salaries of staff and rent could also not be paid regularly. The school would have collapsed but for the magnanimity of the landlord, Mr. D.A.K. Sowah. And by the end of 1955 the school owed him rent totalling $1,600.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Trust had been founded by Dr Nkrumah and since it was the desire of Mr Sowah that the school should come under its umbrella to enable it gain government assistance, he continued to be patient with the school.
It must be mentioned here that one personality who also stood tall in getting the school to stand on its feet was Mr Ako Adjei, the then Minister of Labour and Co-operatives. Mr Ako Adjei together with Mr Sowah and the headmaster fought for government recognition. One of the conditions for government recognition or encouragement as it was then known was that the school should be headed by a graduate.
On November 15, 1955, Rev. Samuel Gyasi Nimako, holder of Bachelor of Arts and Divinity degrees was appointed Principal. The name of the college thereafter was changed to Ghana Secondary School, Labadi.
On August 23, 1956, Mr D.A.K. Sowah wrote to the Director of Education, Accra, informing him that he had waived the amount of $1,660 areas of rent owed him by the school and that he would not then or in future claim the said amount or any part of it from the school.
This singular gesture of altruism went a long way to enable the school gain government recognition. Government encouragement was granted in October 1956 and with effect from July 1, 1956. The name of the school was then changed to Labone Secondary School.
Having attracted government recognition, the Board then set themselves the task of finding a permanent site with permanent buildings for the school. The present site on which the school now stands was originally negotiated for by Mr D.A.K Sowah for his private use from the Lands Department.
However, the then Minister of Education supported by the Board having convinced Mr Sowah that the school would in future be elevated to university status which in turn would be a great honour to the citizens of La, consented to forgo all expenses he had incurred in connection with the land and gave it to the school.
The Ghana Educational Trust (GET) built a new compound for the school incidentally on La soil where 10 years ago the school had started. After 10 years of struggle and trial, the ship had finally found a safe berth home. Labone Secondary School has a permanent compound at La-Accra. In January 1960 the school moved to its present and permanent site.
Rev. S.G. Nimako, the Headmaster at that time was assisted by Mr Richard Lomo Jones. Through academic achievements as well as
sports the school quickly became famous. Mr Jones succeeded Rev. Nimako in February 1961. The school population at the time stood at 401 (292 boys and 109 girls).
In September 1961, Sixth Form Education was introduced into the school, an index to the school’s academic performance. From this time on the school was recognised and acknowledged as one of the best schools in the country and LABOSCO became a house hold word.
Mr Jones retired in 1968 and was succeeded by Mr Ebenezer Alexander Lamptey. Mr Lamptey was followed by Mr Bossman Owusu-Ayim in 1982. The period coincided with a tremendous growth in the number of students reaching an all-time high figure of 2,500 in 1989. This increase was in no small way filliped by the government’s policy of de-boardinisation in 1984.
From 1986 to 1996 only sixth formers stayed in the boarding house. The number of students was pruned down to about 1,600 – a deliberate school policy, by the headmaster, Mr Peter Owusu-Donkor (who had replaced Mr Owusu-Ayim in 1990) in order not to overstretch the school facilities and resources.
Mr Owusu-Donkor was followed by Mrs Cecilia Aggrey-Mensah, incidentally the first female head of the school. The current head, Mrs Joyce Ossei-Agyekum took over from Mrs Aggrey-Mensah in September 2003.
The school presently has a population of 1,700 offering programmes in Business Studies, Home Economics, Visual Arts, General Arts and General Science.
This succinctly is the history of La Bone Secondary School. The school can boast of former students in all spheres of life. From the political, professional, business to the academics. From small beginnings it has now come to take its rightful place as one of the best secondary schools in the country.
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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