A plaque which bears a bit of Achimota School’s chequered history could be lost to scrap dealers in Accra’s largest slum, Agbogbloshie.
The historical object is not sitting on the campus of former Prince Of Wales College but strangely in Tudu in Accra, part of the façade of a structure which has housed offices of the Ghana Education Service (GES) over the years.
The inscriptions on the plaque read ‘This Building Was Erected In 1909 For The Government Teachers’ Training College. Achimota College Was Housed Here From 1924 to 1928. From 1928 To 1956 It Was The Head Office Of The Education Department.’
This part of Tudu in the general area of Kinbu Senior High Technical School formerly Kinbu Boys’ Middle School, Rowe Road Middle School and Government Boys’ School saw a scene of a fire outbreak a few years ago. This is the school which many prominent Gold Coast personalities attended one of them, President Akufo-Addo.
The structure belongs to the Ghana Education Service (GES) but now abandoned after the fire outbreak.
Fortunately the plaque was spared by the effects of the fire but it could find its way elsewhere if those interested in preserving the history of Achimota School do not gird their loins and do something about it, soonest.
Two old Motown old ‘boys’, Sami Suka-Brimah and his classmate, Kweku Sakyi-Addo have been alerted by the writer and both have expressed interest in preserving that bit of their school’s history.
“I have contacted the school’s board chairman who was our mate, (Kweku Sakyi-Addo and I), about the need to protect the plaque” Suka-Brimah, a Tudu ‘boy’ too, who knows the exact location of the plaque is optimistic that the plaque won’t be lost.
He continued, “The structure is thought to belong to the Kinbu School which in its current state needs more space for its stature.’
The possibility of the structure being demolished and finding its way to a commercial entity cannot be dismissed. When that happens the plaque could vanish into thin.
With the stuff now coming to the attention of some prominent Motown personalities the plaque might not get lost after all.
By A.R. Gomda