KROBO CHIEF, 3 OTHERS IN COURT FOR ALLEDGED KIDNAPPING

Nene Agbau Narh III

A Divisional Chiefs of the Manya Krobo Traditional area, Nene Agbau Narh III, is standing trial together with three others in a Koforidua Circuit Court for an alledged act of kidnapping.

He is currently facing trial together with Mr. Peter Sedjordji Narh, Head of Popotia Limestone Land owners; Daniel Tetteh and Nartey alias Narh, all youth of the area who are additionally standing trial for abetment of crime.

Nene Agbau Narh, who is the Divisional Chief for the Djebiam Clan was arraigned before court on Thursday March 12, 2015 for purportedly kidnapping one Samuel Adjie Paditey, an agent of GHACEM, while the latter was on his usual reconnaissance and prospecting activities at the limestone-rich Popotia area, near Yonguase in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region.

Prior to this development, Mr. Paditey was said to have been invited together with the land owners to series of meetings, the last of which was held at the Manya Krobo Customary Lands Secretariat on Thursday February 5, 2015 and instructed by the Chiefs to cease all reconnaissance and prospecting activities since the area in question was not covered by the agreement between the parties.

A trustworthy source indicated that Mr. Paditey and his clients, Ghacem disregarded this directive and have been in active operations there. When on Friday February 20, 2015 the Chiefs had tipoff that Mr. Paditey had defied their directives and was illegally operating in the area in question, Nene Agbau Narh, then acting as the President of the Council dispatched some of his emissaries to summon the former to appear before them. While the messengers were returning from the site with the Mr. Paditey, the Oterkporlu Police had a hint of the issue and swiftly went in to take custody of Mr. Paditey.

He subsequently initiated legal action against Nene and his aides who were then hurled to court on Thursday March 12, 2015.

The four however narrowly escaped remand and were admitted to a GHC 15, 000 bail with two sureties each to reappear on Tuesday March 31, 2015.

Speaking in an interview, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Manya Krobo Traditional Council, Nene Asada Ahor I, who doubles as the Chief of Akuse said, “The unfolding drama between the Council and Ghacem over Popotia is quite a surprise to us because the area is not part of what the Council and the Municipal Assembly legally allotted to Ghacem”. He however declined to comment on the substantive case, adding “We will advise ourselves accordingly after the court’s decision”.

Attempt to reach Mr. Paditey and his counsel for their side of the story yielded no result. 

SUPREME COURT'S RULING ON ASSEMBLY POLLS HAILED

Nene Agbau Narh III, Ag. President of the Manya Krobo Traditional Council and Divisional Chief of Djebiam (Second from left) flanked by Rev. Rt. S. L. Angmor, Nene Asada Ahor I, Chief of Akuse (in red headgear) and Asafoatse Tey Dakli, Suisi Kpongunor at a press conference held on the issue on Wednesday February 25, 2015

The story as captured in page 18 of the Saturday March 7, 2015 edition of the Daily Graphic newspaper

The Chiefs and people of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area who were going to demonstrate on Tuesday March 3, 2015 to prevent the Electoral Commission (EC) from conducting the assembly elections in the Natriku electoral area (Akuse) have hailed the Supreme Court’s decision ordering the postponement of the elections and the start of the entire process all over again.

They said, the decision of the court not only a real victory for democracy in Ghana but an opportunity for the EC to correct the anomaly of wrongly placing the Natriku electoral area under the Shai Osudoku District of the Great Accra Region instead of Lower Manya Krobo in the Eastern Region, contrary to provisions in the 1992 constitution and judgments of the Supreme Court.

The Natriku dilemma

The wrong placement of Natriku in the Shai Osudoku District instead of Lower Manya Krobo Municipality and the determined effort by the EC to hold the March 3, 2015 elections was going to disturb the peace of the area since the Chief and people of Manya Krobo were warming up for a showdown and to resist the EC. They have since served the Akuse District Police Command a notice to embark on a demonstration on Mach 3, 2015.

They indicated that their plan to take to an aggressive street protest to draw public and national attention to the illegality is still on course despite the postponement of the elections.

Hilary Saki Kodji,(Right) spokesperson for Kloma Gbi addressing the press conference

Hilary Saki Kodji, Spokesperson for Kloma Gbi (a Krobo Youth Group at the helm of the campaign) said “By putting Natriku under the Shai Osudoku District (Great Accra Region) instead of Lower Manya Krobo (Eastern Region) not only is the EC breaching Article 5 of the 1992 Constitution, but disregarding the numerous Supreme Court judgments which place the electoral area in question in Lower Manya (Eastern Region).

He wondered why the EC will also ignore the directives from the local Government Ministry which also directs the placement of Natriku in Lower Manya indicated in a letter dated March 14, 2013.

“We are not only out to aggressively defend our rights and heritage but to defend the sanctity of the constitution and ensure that the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land is not taken for granted,” Mr. Kodji said.

Background

Prior to the nationwide assembly elections in 2010, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development initiated an electoral area re-demarcation exercise that ended up changing the boundaries of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality.

In the said exercise, seven electoral areas originally part of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region namely Zongo New Town, Akutue, Osorkutu, Bungalow, Natriku, Amedeka and Salon - were illegally aligned to the Shai Osudoku District in the Greater Accra Region, creating a constitutional issue which went to the Supreme Court.

The Legislative Instrument (LI 1983) initiated by the Ministry and passed by Parliament to give legal backing to the re-demarcation exercise was declared null and void by a unanimous decision of a nine member panel of the Supreme Court on June 13, 2012.

In a letter from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development dated March 14, 2013 and signed by the then Minister, Hon. Akwasi Oppong-Fosu, clearance was sought for the EC to hold the assembly election  which was suspended in 2010. The letter specifically mentioned the 7 electoral areas that form the Akuse Township including Natriku.

The EC however held the elections but excluded Natriku. Presently the EC is preparing to conduct the upcoming assembly elections at Natriku but under the Shai Osudoku District instead of Lower Manya, an act that runs contrary to the provisions in Article 5 of the Constitution and the 2012 judgment of the Supreme Court.

The chiefs and people are therefore out there to protest the breach of the constitution and the disregard for the authority and rulings of the Supreme Court, since appeals and petitions to the authorities are yielding no result. 

The story as captured in page 18 of the Saturday March 7, 2015 edition of the Daily Graphic Newspaper

HOW THE TELECOM CSR WAR BENEFITED ODUMASE-KROBO, MY “VILLAGE”

Zain built Odumase Presby JHS (Top left) and MTN built the rest. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

I have observed some very positive developments in my “village” and find it interesting writing about. Competition is tough in the telecom sector and this, nobody can dispute; the fight even appears keener in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) space where these companies are literally stampeding one another to catch the public’s eyes and prove their supremacy.

One after the other, all the major players in the sector have rolled out mind-blowing campaigns and initiatives to prove their responsiveness to societal needs. We have seen them make swift interventions in the lives of many individuals. Several communities across the country have also benefitted immeasurably from this competition (or generosity, better put). Of these, none (I know) benefited more than my hometown, Odumase-Krobo.  

Within a space of 34 months, MTN Ghana went and splashed a “whopping sum of money” in excess of GHC 530,000 in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region alone, building for my people 3 huge and very important facilities that have since pushed the development of the area a notch higher. In September 2012, the Yellow Yellow telecom giant built and furnished an ICT center at Kpong valued at US$100,000.00 and followed in rapid succession with the construction of a six unit (storey) classroom block for the Kodjonya (Millennium) Presby Junior High School, estimated to cost GHC 229,982.00

The MTN ICT center at Kpong, in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality

A six unit (storey) classroom block for Kodjonya Millenium JHS, Odumase-Korbo, also sponsored by MTN

As if that was not enough to prove itself a responsible corporate citizen, the company sponsored the construction of another edifice, an Accident and Emergency Center for the Atua Government Hospital also in the same municipality- a project that was valued at GHC 200, 000.00. In all, MTN spent not less than 5 billion OLD Ghana cedis (GHC 5, 299, 820) in helping to raise the standard of living of my people.

An MTN sponsored Accident and Emergency center for the Atua Gov. Hospital, Odumase-Korbo

That is really a commendable act and I can’t help but praise the company for this huge intervention. But come to think of it, is this not the work of competition? Why would MTN want to lump together all three facilities in Lower Manya without actually considering the adjourning districts and municipalities which are similarly in need of these amenities? What made Odumase-Krobo the MOST STRATEGIC location to consider? There certainly must be some considerations and I want to believe that Odumase-Krobo was chosen because that’s where Zain (or if you like Airtel’s) praise was/is “loudest”.

From my small corner where I sit now, I see MTN’s move motivated largely by what Zain earlier did in the same community- characterised by massive PR activities- which won the company the heart of many Ghanaians and Krobos in particular.

The boss player (MTN) must be out there on a conscious move to display the depth of its pocket, stamp its superiority over the others in terms of financial clout and ultimately neutralize the WOW feeling Zain has left behind.

In May 2009, Zain, then a new entrant in the Ghanaian telecom industry, followed one of my stories in the Daily Graphic newspaper (published in the back age of the May 7, 2009, edition) which painted the plight of the teachers and pupils of the Odumase Presby JHS in their decaying 1888-built classroom block. The story reported the worsening condition of the school building which had never seen any major renovation since its establishment over 121 year ago. Also captured in the story was that preventable disaster (rainstorm) that hit the school which threw off the rafters and roof of the building, painfully and irreversibly snuffing life out of a class six pupil, Bernard Narteh and injuring several others.  http://thekroboquill.blogspot.com/2014/10/danger-odumase-presby-school-collapsing.html

The state of the Odumase Presby JHS before Zain's intervention. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

Cutting long story short, Zain literally rushed to Odumase-Krobo on seeing the story and razed to the ground that monster of a classroom block threatening the lives of teachers and students, and built in its place- in real record time- a modern six unit classroom block with several other facilities that hitherto were non extent.

The Odumase Presby JHS block, revived and refreshed by Zain. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

In a matter of 3 months the school was restored to shape, assuming an enviable position among the comity of schools not only in the community or municipality but the whole of Eastern Region. It could instantly boast a 30-seater computer lab with internet access, a fully furnished library that could also seat 40 students, electricity, water harvesting and storage facility and lots of other additions that made it a modern educational center. And guess what, all this happened during vacation; the pupils walked out of their colonial “mud house” and by the time they returned, a new school block of no mean standard sprung up like mushroom at the same spot.

THe school's new computer lab. Watch the video via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

If there was any project aside the Touching Lives TV reality show that earned Zain the enviable reputation as responsible company, it was the reconstruction of this school. Truth is that by the time the company was living the shores of Ghana (metamorphosing into what it is today, Airtel) it was still young though but it assumed a leading position in the arena of CSR, literally dictating the CSR tune and setting the pace for the others to follow.

Could this be the same tune MTN danced to? Then Tigo, Glo, Vodafone (and may be Expresso) please let me see you on floor so my people could benefit the more. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

CREDIT: Worked on the pictures together with Hilary Saki Klonene Kodji and Stephen Tetteh Kormoh

A BATTLE WITH FATE AND DESTINY, the story of a physically challenged teacher

A picture Mr. Patamia's worn-out prosthetic/artificial leg

Mr Patamia in his office

If there is anybody worth celebrating for his bold and masculine attitude to life, it is Mr. Godsway Kosi Patamia, the 44 year old physically challenged teacher and assistant headmaster of the Agormanya Methodist JHS in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region.

He is an embodiment of many virtues including optimism, selflessness and determination but the most pronounced of these attributes is his uncommon faith in God and the resilience with which he braved through a life of misery and what many initially considered a hopeless situation to become a first degree-holding teacher who would not mind teaching his students on an empty stomach and living on charity for nearly three years without salary which he worked for and so much deserve. 

Administrative bottleneck, improper coordination between his employer- the GES- and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department coupled with the wicked act of man’s insensitivity towards his fellow man painfully turned him into a beggar and yet he kept hope alive and his head above water even on a rather breezy sea of life.

What later turned a life full of challenges started when little Patamia- then aged 15 and a form 2 pupil of the Keta AME Zion school- was ran into by a saloon car on his way to school in the year 1985.

He was rushed to the Keta Government hospital after the accident but was transferred to the 37 Military Hospitals where he spent days without proper medical care because he could not be officially admitted due to the lack of hospital beds.

When after nearly four days it became obvious he wasn’t going to be admitted, he was referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital by which time his condition had worsened and almost beyond recovery.

The right leg ended up amputated; the left survived but remains mutilated and painful till date. When eventually he was discharged from the Korle Bu teaching hospital after two years on admission, he had to stay at the Adoagyire Orthopedic Center for an additional year during which he learnt to walk on an artificial (prosthetic) leg.

The badly mutilated leg which "survived" the accident

On his return after 3 years from the center, having been out of school all this while, nobody except his mother bought into his decision and desire to go back to school because many thought it worthless due to his condition.

Determined to prove that his misfortune was not the end of life, and with the support of his mother (Ms Peggy Dzidzoamenu), Michael Godsway found his way back into the classroom and progressed steadily through the Keta Business College (1989-1994) and later the Accra Teacher Training College from where he graduated a professional teacher in the year 2002.

As if to further prove his point, he would still not allow the myriad of challenges and his financial difficulties to suppress his inner desire to acquire higher education. After three years of teaching, he applied for study leave to enable him upgrade but he was refused study leave.

That would still not be a stumbling block for the determined young man. Having already gained admission into the University of Cape Coast, he proceeded to read English and Music for 4 years in the most challenging circumstances one could ever imagine, among which were his physical disability coupled with financial difficulties.

He had no room on campus yet financial difficulty would not permit him to lodge in any of the student hostels, at least not in his early years on campus. The student lounge and porters’ lodge virtually turned his place of residence. He slept on benches/any available slab and ate anything that could keep body and soul together until he eventually graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Music.

Upon completion, he came back and was re-engaged into the Ghana Education Service (GES) in 2009 and issued with an appointment letter as an English teacher and the assistant headmaster of the Agormanya Methodist JHS (where he has since been teaching) in the Eastern Region at the rank of a Principal Superintendent.

He thought that was going to be the end of his long chain of suffering but that was not to be. His situation was compounded when for 3 years; he was not paid a pesewa of his hard-earned salary due to the lack of proper coordination between his employer, G.E.S and the Controller and Accountant General whose mandate it was to process his documents to facilitate his payment.

As a result, a man of his status (assistant headmaster) had to virtually beg to survive compelling him, his four children and (then) expectant wife to live on charity and on the generosity of his colleague teachers and church members. (full story is available via this link http://www.modernghana.com/news/406323/1/physically-challenged-teacher-turns-a-beggar-due-t.html).

At a point, it only took the benevolence of his landlord to spare him eviction from his room after the expiration of his first rent which was paid by the Reverend Minister of the Agormanya Methodist Church where he fellowships.

Not even this treatment from his employers could take him of out the classroom. He taught with the highest form of sacrifice and dedication virtually on an empty stomach, making sure his students passed well and gained admission into Senior High School.

Mr. Patamia during instructional hours

JUSTIFICATION FOR THE REWARD

1. He must be showcased and rewarded to serve as a model and inspiration for the many physically challenged persons on the street who have virtually resigned to fate in the face of their conditions

2. He must be rewarded for his selfless service to the pupils of the Agormanya Methodist JHS and the community. Even when he was not being paid (for 3 years) during which time he, his 4 children and expectant wife were surviving on the benevolence of his colleague teachers, he still didn’t miss classes because of his love for the pupils and the profession

3. The reward and recognition will give him a more compelling reason to continue to live and press on in life even in his condition.

NB: This is an Airtel Touching Lives entry/story. It was submitted for season 3, but unfortunately, it did find favour with the selection team. Better luck next time, my good friend. 

The writer, Henking Adjase-Kodjo (right) with his journalist friend, Umaru Sanda Amadu of Citi FM in a pose with Mr. Patamia at his residence, Agromanya

GHACEM, MANYA KROBOS IN A LEGAL TUSSLE over limestone deposit

The story as captured in the November 1, 2014 edition of the Daily Graphic newspaper, pg 13

Ghacem Limited and the Manya Krobo Traditional Council (MKTC) have locked horns in a legal battle that threatens to further strain an already sour relationship between the two.

This follows the filing of a suit by Ghacem against the latter for what it describes as interference in its Popotia limestone concession covering an area of 93.16km2 (23, 021. 00 acres).

Nene Agbau Narh III, 1st Defendant & Ag. Prez. of the MKTC

The suit was filed at the Koforidua High Court against Nene Agbau Narh III, Divisional Chief of Djebiam, in his capacity as the acting President of the Traditional Council. Four others have also been sued including Mr. E. K. Sackitey, Coordinator of the Manya Krobo Customary Lands Secretariat; Mr. Annor Divine, Chairman of the Limestone Land Owners Association, Lawatt Quarries Company Limited, a local mining firm, as well as one Nene Okletey.

The plaintiff is seeking among others, an order of quia timet injunction to restrain the Traditional Council, Mr. Sackitey, Mr. Annor and Nene Okletey from interfering with their concession. It is also demanding a declaration that the mining activities of Lawatt Quarries, the fifth defendant, constitute trespass on its concession.

The current disagreement was sparked by meeting held on September 24, 2014 attended by representatives of Ghacem, the Traditional Council and other stakeholders including the Manya Krobo Customary Lands Secretariat, The Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly and youth groups. During the meeting, Nene Agbau Narh, then acting as the President of the Council ordered Ghacem to halt its operation in the Popotia application area as the various stakeholders still stood by their objection to the granting of that application.

Earlier, the council, in a letter dated September 17, 2014, conveyed to the Minerals Commission its decision ordering the plaintiff to cease operations in the Popotia application area until further notice.

The letter indicated, among others that Ghacem’s operation in those areas was illegal because all stakeholders including the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly, the Traditional Council, Customary Lands Secretariat, landowners and other concerned groups objected to the issuance of reconnaissance license to Ghacem by the Minerals Commission as indicated in a letter from the Municipal Assembly dated October 15, 2010.

When contacted, Nene Agbau Narh III, the first defendant preferred to remain silent until the determination of the case.

Dr. George Dawson Amoah, Head of Strategy and Corp. Affairs, Ghacem

Dr. George Dawson-Amoah, Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director of Ghacem confirmed initiating the legal action and said “that was because the defendants were putting impediments in our way”.

In a related development, a Youth and Advocacy group in the area, Kloma Gbi, has expressed shock at the decision by Ghacem to initiate a court action against the traditional rulers of the community within which it derives its raw materials.

Ign. Philip Tetteh Padi, Commissioner of  Kloma Gbi

Commissioner of the group, Ing. Philip Tetteh Padi, said “though it is Ghacem’s legal right to initiate any such action when aggrieved, it would have been prudent exploring other alternatives to solve the issue, taking cognizance of the likely effect of the action”.

He declined to comment on the substantive issue except to say that as youth of the area, they were prepared to stand by their Chiefs in a situation like this especially looking at their side of the argument.

It would be recalled that Ghacem has been mining limestone in the area for the past ten years following the commissioning of the quarry at Odugblase in 2004 by the Ex-President John Agyekum Kuffour.

 Published: Saturday November 1, 2014, pg 13, Daily Graphic

ZAIN THE SAVIOUR

Full video via this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA

Henking A. Adjase-Kodjo, the writer

To the chiefs and people of Odumase-Krobo, particularly the staff and students of the Presbyterian Junior High School (the school that was left to rot), the name Zain, will forever remain synonymous with salvation and relief because what all others have failed or refused to do, Zain has done.

Just when hope was getting lost because the authorities were shirking their responsibility and virtually running away from what they were mandated to do and with no rescuer in sight, Zain came from nowhere to restore smile on the faces of the visibly hopeless tutors and pupils of the 1888-built school; the school had been left for a long time to rot, injure and kill.

All, even those whose mandate it was to ensure that the building was fit for human habitation and, for that matter, academic exercise fled in the face of the worsening condition, leaving the teachers and pupils like “orphans”. But Zain did not. It is, therefore not for nothing that the name Zain has gained acceptance in the Odumase township and beyond.

At least if for nothing at all, their prompt response to the distress call of the school within a day has succeeded in averting a worse form of the earlier recorded disaster. This has shown that they are not only in the country for business, just like others, but to improve the lots of the people.

But for the rescue mission, the news of the impending rainy season would be a bad one for the “orphaned” teachers and pupils because it would worsen their plight.

I am very sure if they had the power, they would have suspended the season and, for that matter, the rains but they had no such power so they resigned themselves to fate only hoping that nothing disastrous happened.

If at the hands of mere showers that preceded the season, parts of the roof of the colonial edifice kept flying off, to the extent of snuffing life out of one student and injuring many others, one can imagine what would have become of the building, the pupils and teachers during and after the heavy rains of this season as has already been predicted by the Meteorological Service not too long ago.

We needed no consultation to arrive at the conclusion that a great but preventable disaster was looming. I am firm in the belief that other schools in other parts of the country are in similar or worse conditions.

If in the heart of a town like Odumase-Krobo, which is very close to the capital city, we still find crumbling schools buildings like this, one can guess with certainty the nature of school building in the “remote” parts of the country. How long should we continue to toy with risky situations like this?

Some things can be toyed with, if we so want, but not when human lives which we neither can create nor restore are involved and more so when one has already been lost as a signal that more were going to be lost.

Is this the kind of free, compulsory but quality basic education government keeps boating of? Why then should it be compulsory if children have to face life-threatening conditions to access it and die in the process? What would the benefit be to come to school only to be struck dead by a collapsing school building?

I shudder to think that the deceased, Bernard Narteh, has been dispatched to eternity prematurely and for this reason the authorities responsible for the mismanagement of the schools must be taken on for negligence of duty. Negligence because the building started showing signs of imminent collapse long ago and yet the authorities simply refused to act. This is where or disregard for maintenance has brought us.

Could it be that those whose mandate it was and still is to ensure the safety of the people (pupils and teachers) and the provision of a conducive environment for academic activities simply refused to do so because they are not directly affected in any way or the condition of the school had not been brought to their attention?

Was it a case of lack of finance, the usual refrain, and if so, what prevented them from taking initiatives? Am I being made to believe that “communal labour” which has been very effective in arresting situations like this has outlived its usefulness?

Was it that the stakeholders were too many and their roles not properly defined for which reason they shirked their responsibility? And who at all is directly responsible for the management of public-mission schools like the one in question- Odumase Presby Junior High School? Because one of the identified causes of the abandonment is “who has what responsibility to do what?”

Is it the government, the mission/church or the Parent-Teacher-Association? Some may even argue that the old students have a role to play. Is there a clear definition of who does what? If there is, then the identified authority must be held responsible.

While the government, for that matter, the District Assembly and the Ghana Education Service (GES) seem to be too busy with “more important issues”, the church has also almost withdrawn, playing a passive role in the management of the school.

I very much believe that the church has withdrawn because the school is “public”, otherwise what reason can the Presby Education Unit (PEU) the Presby Education Foundation (PEF) and the Dangme-Tongu Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) assign for not responding to the distress call of the school”

Anyway, where was the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO)? What did it do about what happened? Why the silence even when they had fully been made aware of the disaster?

Would I be wrong to think that what happened was not disasterous enough for them to manage? Perhaps, disaster to them is better managed on a large scale and not when only three people are injured and a single life lost.

Thank God, the management of Zain has been touched by the plight of the school and is hurriedly putting up a befitting classroom block with a library and a computer laboratory in place of that “death trap”. But the question is, what of other schools in the same and similar conditions?

Zain certainly cannot do all and that is why the government must sit up and prioritise properly, otherwise the very essence of the laudable interventions such as the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, free school uniforms and the others would all not be felt.

Of what essence would it be for the children to attend school for free, be fed for free but learn in crumbling school building only to die later because of the faulty and abandoned school building?

We have toyed with lives for far too long and so this must be a lesson. We done Zain! This is a long-lasting investment that you have made and you will forever be remembered for this philanthropy. You are really making the world a wonderful place.
Daily Graphic, Monday June 22, 2009

Watch full video via this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLVH07UUu1k&list=UU7ljxYzKiZJZYmrQI8c0nLA