OKUASS holds 14th Founders Day Memorial Lecture

The Okuapemman Senior High School (OKUASS) in the Akuapem North Municipality in the Eastern Region held the 14th Founders Day Memorial Lecture of Maxwell Kweku Opoku Acheampong at the school premises last Saturday.

The lecture, which was on the theme: ‘’Honouring Opoku Akyeampong’s legacy of patriotism, discipline and hope: A call for inspiration, innovation and hope,’’, was sponsored by the 1995 year group of the Okuapemman Past Students Association (OPSA), otherwise known as ‘Adehye’, with support from the 1985 and 1975 year groups.

This year’s celebration highlighted three key qualities and values of Barrister Opoku Acheampong's life: patriotism, discipline, and hope, which were in line with the theme.

The school cadet, the school choir, the Kete cultural troupe and a student, Benedicta Charko Tei, thrilled the audience with a drill, melodious songs, cultural dance and poetry recital about the founder.  

As part of the programme, the 1995 and 2004 year groups launched development projects in the school to be completed later in the year.  

Profile

The Founder of the Okuapemman School, Maxwell Kweku Opoku Acheampong, who hailed from Akropong Akuapem, was born in 1914. He started his elementary education at the Akropong Salem Boarding School. He won the Cadbury and Fry Scholarship and studied at the Achimota College.

He worked briefly with Cadbury and Fry but resigned to pursue a degree in law in the United Kingdom.

He graduated as a barrister and solicitor from Middle Temple and returned to Ghana to practice as a barrister under Edward Akufo-Addo and later started his own chambers. 

Seeing the need for secondary education in the Akuapem range, Opoku Acheampong took a bank loan and founded the Okuapemman School in 1957. He, however, died a year later, but his dream lived on.

Welcome address

The Headmaster of the school, Rev. Richard Koranteng Afari, in his welcome address, said the yearly celebration of Barrister Opoku Acheampong as the Founder was to pay tribute not only to him but to all the great and gallant people, especially the OPSA or Adehye for what they sacrificed over the years and continued to sacrifice.

Relevant issues  

A Media Professional and Entrepreneur, Nana Otupiri Darko, who is a past student, touched on a wide range of issues, including traditional, politics, social, education and other very relevant issues that touched on the lives of Ghanaians and stressed the need to take note of the patriotism, hope, virtues and the legacy of the founder of the school from which many had benefited.

He dwelt on the keywords from the theme: patriotism, legacy, hope and discipline, and drew the attention of Ghanaians to the current trend of indiscipline, especially in schools, which needed to be stopped before it got out of hand.

‘’Today, we see and hear of students stabbing fellow students to death, students attacking school authorities and subjecting them to brutalities, students vandalising school properties at the least provocation and as if those were not enough, politicians at the various levels of political office portray same or worse traits all in the name of democracy.    

A member of the 1995 year group and the Chief Executive Officer of the El-Virtues Construction Limited, Bernice Awuku who shared her life history during her time in the school, urged the students not to let societal norms or stereotypes limit them in whatever they planned to do.