HISTORY OF ABUAKWA STATE COLLEGE

THE FOUNDING

In 1936, three Elders of the Methodist Church of Asafo-Akyem, namely, Mr. Okai, Mr. Otchere and Mr. Addo Atkins decided to build an "Upper" School" for the Asafo Akyem Methodist Middle School. Their immediate aim was to prepare the students for the Junior Cambridge Examination. They consulted one Mr. Fred Adae who had been teaching at Mfantsipim School. Mr. Adae agreed with their decision and advised them to seek the guidance and consent of Nana Sir Ofori Attah, the Okyenhene about their decision. They did that and the Okyenhene also gave his royal consent and undertook to bear the cost of running the school, because "it was a clinking good idea".

Thus the School was started. The boarders were housed in a section of Mr. Okai's house and classes were held in the rooms vacated by the Middle School. The students were quite big and fairly old and there were no girls. Mr. A.E.K. Ofori Attah, a former headmaster of the school in the early days recalls that "being young and smallish at the time, I easily passed as a student and even conveniently played in the school football team"

It turned out that what they have set out to do was an extraordinary undertaking which required more resources and extra support than they had envisaged. It was at this juncture that Mr. Aaron Ofori Atta also known as Kofi Asante Ofori Atta who later became a Cabinet Minister in the First Republic came into the picture; he soon threw this whole weight, mind and energy behind the venture but his support took a different turn to the disappointment of the Akyem-Asafo Elders.. He felt that such an institution of great potential could not just promote the narrow interests of the four Methodist Church Elders of Asafo only but should be made to serve the interest of the whole Akyem Abuakwa state so he advocated for the transfer of the School from Asafo Akyem to Kyebi, the capital town of Akyem Abuakwa. He gave five reasons to buttress his conviction:-

1. Since Kyebi was the administrative and financial headquarters of the district, it would be more prudent to obtain support for the School from government machinery if it was re-located to Kyebi

2. At Kyebi, the school will be close to a hospital where students who fall sick could receive prompt medical attention.

3. As a State School, it could not remain inaccessible to the main stream of the young and prospective students from all parts of the State and other parts of the country; at Asafo, the School would be serving only the citizens of that town and its outlying villages and this was not acceptable.

4. Kyebi could attract more suitably qualified teachers than Asafo because of availability of adequate and suitable accommodation in Kyebi, and besides that, Asafo was at that time quite remote and extremely difficult to reach by motor travel.

5. A State School should be a non-denominational institution, if not altogether, secular.

Aaron Ofori Attah's advocacy won the blessing of the Okyenhene, and with no visible and rational counter argument forthcoming from the Asafo quarters, the School was re-located to Kyebi in 1937. Thus Abuakwa State College was born, established at an estimated cost of £10,000 provided wholly from Okyeman revenues. Nana Sir Ofori Atta himself laid the foundation stone on 11 October 1937 and thus became the father and founder of the College.

His private house, a two-storey building known as Guggisberg Villa was put at the disposal of the School and was conveniently turned into two dormitories. For classes, a block, situated about a mile away in the District Commissioner's area of Kyebi, where a mining firm had vacated their buildings, was turned into classrooms. The Students attended classes and had their meals there. This practice returning to their dormitories situated a mile away was rather arduous and troublesome. Walking up and down alone day after day had its toll on the life of the students. Their plight was compounded by the frequent rains in those days at Kyebi. Strangely, the spirit of the students was marvelous and they hardly complained. Rather they took to their studies and even games with matchless zeal.

Meanwhile building work at a site given by the Okyenhene for the School was in progress and a dormitory, a classroom block and a dining hall were being constructed under the able supervision of a Mr. Charles Simango, a Portuguese East African technician who had been brought in by the Okyenhene to oversee the early days of the School at Kyebi. He was the brother-in-law of Justice Sir Henley Coussey who was also a very great friend and Counsel of Nana Sir Ofori Atta.

In 1940, after three difficult years, the buildings were ready for use so the students who had endured with amazing fortitude the hazards and hardships in the make-shift arrangements, under " come wind, come weather" conditions moved joyously to the site which was meant to be a permanent site for the School. Thereafter, Mr. Simango left, having successfully completed his work. He was a humane person friendly to all and sundry and actually adored by all the students because he was always ready to work with his hands and so versatile that he did little manual jobs for all repairing every broken item put before him.. It must be aid that despite all these, he had no real academic contact with the students since the School's academic administration was in the hands of Aaron Ofori Atta.

Following the move of the School from Asafo to Kyebi, none of the tutors and the elders at Asafo accompanied the School to Kyebi except one Mr. Tetebu, a Latin tutor who became a great helper to Aaron Ofori Atta in those difficult early years.

THE NAMING OF THE SCHOOL

When the time came to get the School a fitting and permanent name, it was very strongly suggested by some of the leading chiefs of the State, that is, the influential members of the Okyeman Council, that it should be named after its benefactor, the Okyenhene, thus "Nana Sir Ofori Atta's Memorial School". The Abuakwa Scholars Union supported this but true to character, Nana Sir Ofori Atta rejected this. He had built the Kyebi Primary or Elementary School that became the Kyebi Government School. His name was never attached. He had built the Kyebi Hospital that has become the District Hospital. His name was never associated with it. He built the Kyebi Trade School which became the Kyebi Government Trade School so he decided against attaching his name to this later institution. And so the School was named Abuakwa State College to emphasise the point that it was an asset for the whole Akyem Abuakwa State.

THE CREST/EMBLEM

Once the School had been named Abuakwa State College, it followed that the emblem should be the State's emblem in its entirety or in some abridged form. Aaron Ofori Atta and his committee who worked on this and the motto decided on an abridged form, casting away the royal Asona Stool, the Asona Snake and the tools for gold digging and washing. The reasons for this were that they did not want too much of royalty or too much emphasis placed on the superiority of one clan or "abusua". However they acknowledged the significance of the Tree and the Leopard and these were retained in the composition of the schools emblem or crest as it exists today.

The Tree: Signifies the dense forest, Kwaebiribirim, the richest inheritance of Akyem Abuakwa. It underscores the fertility of the land, the shade it provides for the farms, the rivers and the people and the timber that bring wealth.

The Leopard: In its relaxed and tame posture, the leopard signifies that the King of the animals of Kwaebiribirim, the Lord of the Land who is peaceful, still and gentle, when not provoked. Provoke it, and you have yourself to blame. Shakespeare's immortal lines explain this philosophy better: "In peace, there is nothing so becomes a man ( a state, a nation) as modesty, stillness, and humility but when the blast of war blows in your ears, then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, and summon up the blood" . He jealously guards and protects the wealth of the State.

THE MOTTO

Susubiribi is the motto. The magic of this motto is that, as an Akyem word, it can evolve several interpretations: - Aim at the something worthy; Aim high and let the sky be your limit; - Think; think ahead; don't be indolent; be active; think positively; - Have regard for what is worthy and honourable; - Take measure of what you do or say.

1940 -1944

Mr. C. L. Patterson, a West Indian was brought in 1940 by Nana Sir Ofori Attah to head the School after the departure of Mr. Simango. Because of the new buildings, a lot of students joined the School and Mr. Patterson started to mould them academically. He was a scholar who, in order to encourage students to form the habit of reading as a tool for quality education, built a library and stocked it with many books especially story books. The he established a School Newsletter and these resulted in the building of a wonderful crop of intelligent and brilliant students. No wonder the School excelled with good results in public examinations.

The Patterson era was certainly a period of brilliant academic achievement in the annals of the school. The school was full of students from all parts of the country, even from far away Northern Territories as well as towns in the Western Akyem, Eastern and Central Akyem and some towns in Ashanti-Akim.

Every good thing has its bitter aftermath and not long after, there developed an apparent friction between the Headmaster and his Assistant, Mr. Aaron Ofori Atta. It was soon learnt that Mr. Patterson did not take kindly to the changes Mr. Ofori Atta wanted to introduce. He wanted to introduce some type of social service with the students going to the neighbouring villages to clean up, tend to those with sores and yaws and teach the illiterate ones how to read, and also cultural drumming and dancing, pouring libation and other traditional practices. Mr. Patterson would have none of those things. The students were there to follow academic course and they had enough in their plates. This naturally affected the staff as they were divided into two opposing camps, one supporting their Headmaster and the other their Assistant Headmaster.

Things came to such a head that the two heads had to appear before a small committee of Kyebi headed by Nana Sir Ofori Atta who was known to be kindly disposed towards Mr. C L Patterson, the Headmaster. It therefore came as no surprise to many members of staff when Mr. Patterson tendered his resignation soon after Nana Sir Ofori Atta's death in 1943 He had grave doubts about his security when staunchest pillar and supporter had fallen. Three of his able and very hardworking teachers also resigned with him.

1944-1947

When Mr. C L Patterson left the scene, the mantel at long last fell to Aaron Ofori Atta. Though his actual headmastership was brief (1944-1947), for nearly ten years, that is, since the inception of the School, he had been always associated with the headship. He can be described as the guiding star all the time; indeed the history of Abuakwa State College cannot be complete without acknowledging the significant ubiquitous role that he played in shaping the destiny of the College. One can discern in him that keen sense of belonging that made him part and parcel of the College. He loved Abuakwa State College dearly. He can be described as the man who always thought his convictions and forward march were being thwarted by those he thought were deliberately being difficult.

Three noteworthy marks of the period of Aaron Ofori Atta's headship are: (1) the shift from the bias towards literary studies introduced by Mr. Patterson to Mathematics and Social Services and 2) the introduction of traditional practices and 3) the growing student population that became unbearable. The numbers were growing by heaps and bounds and the whole school was overcrowded in the dormitories and in the classrooms. By the time Aaron Ofori Atta left the scene to pursue further studies, the school had been filled to breaking point and something needed to be done very fast.

1947 - 1962

Following the departure of Mr. Aaron Ofori Atta, his senior brother, Mr. William Ofori Atta was seconded to the School from the Okyeman Treasury Department and Chief Secretary's Office. He appeared to be quite different in many respects from his younger brother who he had succeeded. His ways and methods were more democratic, making students choose their own prefects, setting up a student council and several staff working committees each with a specific matter to deal with. He believed in the delegation of authority, making supporting staff help in the administration and general work of the School.

He came to inherit the problem of overcrowding. To solve the problem, he wrote persistently to the authorities in the Ministry of Education and other competent bodies, requesting the release to the School of the vacant buildings of the Kyebi Trade School which had been vacated by the section of the army that occupied it during World War II. The whole Trade School was lying idle and neglected within a stone's throw from our School consisting of dormitories, classrooms, dining halls, workshops and bungalows. After waiting for weeks for a response from the government without response, Mr. William Ofori Atta with the assistance of the Senior House Master, Mr. S C A Obiri, marched the students carrying their boxes and singing the famous chorus "Onward Christian Soldiers" to the Trade Site and occupied the empty buildings. That was a spectacular feat unprecedented in the history of schools and similar institutions in the Country. It is often described as the first "Positive Action" ever staged in the Country in modern times. This was in 1948 after Mr. William Ofori Atta returned home from the well-known detention of the "Big Six" by the colonial Government.

He next addressed himself to the problem of overcrowding, which is unbridled and unregulated registration of students that has given rise to academic decline and fallen standards. One answer to the problem was that entrance examinations should be scrupulously conducted, supervised and diligently marked. Headmaster William Ofori Atta was still trying to find solutions when he and his Assistant, Mr. Kojo Botsio, who had joined the staff a couple of years earlier, won seats in the National Assembly in the 1951 General Elections and had to leave the School.

Before his departure, he invited his former classmate at Mfantsipim, Mr. C J Bannerman, who was then Assistant Headmaster of Prempeh College, to take up the Headmastership of Abuakwa State College. Mr. Bannerman headed the School from 1952 to 1958 and during this period he planned and worked to obtain Government recognition for the School. He used his rich experience in school administration to direct his activities towards that end. He set up quite a good science laboratory and employed several young and budding scientists to teach science. Three or four of "these young scientists" are now middle-aged medical practitioners in our Government and Private Hospitals. Before the government could grant recognition for the School, a thorough inspection of the School was conducted by a team of professional school inspectors and experienced teachers. The College passed the vigorous inspection and was highly recommended for Government recognition. This was a significant achievement of Mr. Bannerman. It has been recorded that an interesting remark about the students' command of the Latin Language was made at the time of the inspection. It goes like this: "Strangely, we found that the students enjoyed their Latin lessons more than their English classes. They certainly were more at home".

Mr. Bannerman recalls that when Mr. William Ofori Atta entrusted the administration of the School to him, it was without fanfare. He was, as he has recorded elsewhere, "pushed into a totally unfurnished, deserted and unkempt army hut which was described as his official bungalow". Furthermore, according to an account attributed to him, "he was not given any handing-over notes, no cash, and no records to start with". However he appealed to the Ministry of Education who answered his urgent call and within weeks he was "recognized", funds started flowing and Abusco "escaped extinction".

Mr. C J Bannerman has put on record the benevolence of two institutions that supported him in those difficult years, namely Phillip & Tracey and the British Council and without whom his administration of the School would have been unsuccessful.

It was also during the period of Mr. Bannerman that girls were formally admitted to the School due to the acquisition of a Girl's dormitory, St Elizabeth Block which was situated not far from the main campus.

From 1958 to 1062, following the exit of Mr. C J Bannerman, the School came under the administration of yet another Ofori Atta whose initials this time was A E K. He recalls with relish the fact of his " having been with the School for 20 years as a teacher, football coach, sports master, housemaster, senior housemaster, librarian and assistant headmaster, an integral part of the institution, enjoying its successes and achievements, reverses and setbacks, indeed right in the centre of its vicissitudes."

An event of great significance during his tenure was the appointment of a large number of graduates to the staff. These were both Ghanaian and expatriate graduate teachers. There two Peace Corps teachers from America and some from South Africa and Ceylon.

AFTER 1962

From the year of the exit of Mr. A E K Ofori Atta, i.e. 1962 to 1966, the College had three (3) headmasters for short periods and it was a period of great instability and stagnation. Mr. S K Ohene took over the mantle from July 1962 to August 1963 and he was followed by the two-year administration of Mr. K A Oduro. After him came Mr. J N Antwi, the mathematics tutor who headed the College in an acting capacity for one year. Aside these changes of headmasters, there were some remarkable events that took place in the years that followed which need to be mentioned:

Murder on Campus (1964)

It was not a fiction from an Agatha Christie novel but a real live incident (or accident) that took place in 1964 when the College bursar, one Mr. Siaw was shot dead infront of his office by a student Isaac Banful with a gun. Apparently the bursar has accused the student of squandering money that his parents had given him to pay his fees and was threatening to report his behaviour to the parents. That, according to the story, infuriated student Banful who decided to teach the bursar a lesson. It was a story that sank the reputation of the College and brought it to its knees with one stroke. The story spread like wildfire across the length and breadth of the country and appeared on newspaper front pages in huge banners. Abusco was never to recover from the damage done to her name and enrollment in subsequent years fell drastically. The student, Isaac Banful, was convicted and jailed for manslaughter. Unconfirmed reports say that on his release from prison nine years later, he suffered a mental breakdown and died shortly afterwards.

CHANGE OF NAME TO ABUAKWAMAN SECONDARY SCHOOL

(1965) For reasons that one cannot fathom clearly even up to now, the name of the School was changed in 1965 to Abuakwaman Secondary School and this remained in place till 1968 when it reverted back to the original name. One school of thought believes that it was done to paint over the scandal of the murder of the bursar the previous year that had tainted the schools image. Another conjecture was that the institution was a secondary school and ought to be named as such. Whatever the motive was in changing the name of the institution, it did not bring any tangible benefit to the school.

MOVEMENT FROM OLD SITE TO THE NEW SITE (1967)

In September 1966, a substantive headmaster, Mr. D E K Agyepong-Yamoah was appointed to head the College. It was the break of a fresh dawn. He was a dynamic indefatigable personality who right from the start was determined to arrest the decay, falling standards and bad image of the previous years. In 1967, he took the bull by the horns and initiated the move of the College from the old army barracks where it has existed for thirty long years to a new fresh site near the town of Pano off the Kyebi-Asiakwa motor road where new buildings put up by the diamond-mining conglomerate at Akwatia have been left unused and engulfed by bush for some years. The Consolidated African Selection Trust (CAST) had put up the buildings as a gift to the Okyeman state and was rotten in the bush. Headmaster Adgepon-Yamoah saw this as an opportunity to make a clean break from the past to set off on a clean slate and he did it against formidable odds. For nearly 2 terms of the academic year, 1967, students weeded and weeded, cleared debris, hewed wood and uprooted tree stumps, scrubbed and painted endlessly in order to make the site habitable. It was work, work and work from dawn till dusk. One old student, now a prosperous businessman recalls with tearful memories the "year of cutlass and hoe", but at the end of it all, it was worth it, he added.

MR. ODURO ANTWI (1963 - 1972)

The era of Mr. Agyepon-Yamoah's administration cannot be properly described without mentioning the name of one man whose persona and stride was so all embracing. Mr. Oduro Antwi, the tutor for English Literature and later the Senior Housemaster was feared and loved alike by both boys and girls. He strode like a colossus and waved a wand of discipline wherever he went. For him the rules must be obeyed without exception. Good housekeeping, cleanliness and comportment were his hallmark. Together with the headmaster and other notable tutors around during that period such as A N Tetteh, E Essiamah, Doris Gyimah, they moved the College into a new height of discipline, academic successes, sports victories and general improvement at the new site. And their efforts were complemented by a generation of school prefects who used their power to the full and brooked no nonsense in student behaviour and attitude notably Kofi Ntiamoah, Aryee Armah, Emmanuel Asare, Matthew Asiedu, to mention a few.

ROLL OF HEADMASTERS SINCE 1972

The period after 1972 had seen a scattering of added infrastructure such as the new dormitory complex, the administration block, the computer building and the water-producing unit. It was also during this period that the school admitted sixth form classes which continued until the SSS system was introduced. Since 1972 to the present date in 2007, the College has had ten (10) headmaster listed as follows:

1. S A Allotey 1972 - 1978

2. A N Tetteh (ag) 1978(Nov) - 1978(Dec)

3. D K Asiedu 1979 - 1982

4. D W Donkor(ag) 1982(April) -1982(Aug)

5. S A Birikorang 1982 - 1983

6. D M Ankomah 1983 - 1990

7. A O Botwe 1990 - 1993

8. E A Preko 1993 - 1995

9. K Antwi-Dako 1995 - 2001

10. Frederick Opoku 2002 -