Prof. Joseph Amikuzono, the principal of St. John Bosco Teacher Training College, has garnered significant love and support from the Navrongo community in the Upper East Region of Ghana since taking over in 2021. However, recent news of his contract termination has sparked outrage among residents, students, and alumni.
Samuel Apuri Amoah, a resident of Nangalikinia, expressed his frustration, stating that despite not having met Prof. Amikuzono personally, his contributions to the college indicate he is a “divine man sent by God.” He lamented that “Satan” does not want such individuals who strive for development, which he believes is the reason behind the current turmoil at the college.
Speaking to the media in Navrongo, Apuri was visibly shaken by the news. “So what Satan wants to do in the school there, he hasn’t had a chance to do it, because this man, I believe he should be a divine person. Satan wants people who come, and they wouldn’t do the right thing. Look at the way I’m talking and my body is shaking. I don’t know the man. I’ve seen his work there. Let us be honest with ourselves. Everybody’s complaining about it. Why? Do we want the same thing to happen in both schools again? No, no, no, no, no, no. We shall not accept that.”
The youth of Navrongo, alongside students from the college, organized a demonstration to demand the retention of Prof. Amikuzono. Maxwell Gongnia, spokesperson for the chief and people of Nangalikinia, lamented the council’s decision to terminate a leader who has fostered significant infrastructure development and academic excellence at the college.
“The school has seen major infrastructure development and growth in academics since he took over the mantle of the institution. So we see no reason why he is being ousted on unjustified grounds. Our petition to G-TEC and the council chair fell on deaf ears, thereby necessitating our action today.”
The youth and students appealed to the Paramount Chief of Navrongo, Navro Pio Pɛ Dennis Asagpaare Balinia Adda II, to intervene in the situation.
Mr. Koka Alexander Kolog, a former SRC Organizing Secretary of St. John Bosco, emphasized that the community is not opposing the Catholic Church or Bishop Alfred Agyenta but is instead fighting against systemic injustices that hinder development.
“We have never, on any platform, orchestrated or written or delimited acts against the bishop or the Catholic Church. This demonstration is against under-development. This demonstration is against injustice. This demonstration is against another decision by a council chair. This demonstration is against a man who has devolved both schools. A man who, for the first time, since the inception of the school, has established a wall around the school and put gates that at night you can lock it. A man since the inception of the school, there has been a 42-year-old land dispute between the community and the school, and he is the only principal that has been able to solve the matter. A man who realized that people complete SHS, fail their exams, and feel useless thinking they cannot make it again, and he has established a program called Clock-In to teach students math and science so they can retake their exams and re-enter the education field.
We are talking about a man who has denied himself personal achievements. A man, for the first time, who traveled, came back, and returned his per diem to the college because he doesn’t need it. He is a man who denied himself a pickup and asked that the school use the funds from a land issue, amounting to about five billion, to pay that instead. I am okay with the old car. We are fighting for a professor who has rebuilt an abandoned auditorium for over 12 years in less than two years.
We are not here to fight against the Catholics. We are not here to fight against the vision. We are fighting against acts that undermine the development of both schools. Both schools were struggling between 2016 and 2017.
This is a man who has lobbied, and both schools received over 2,000 pieces of furniture from GETFund. Your Highness, this is a man who has come to develop Navrongo. So our problem is, why are we always interested in extending contracts of retired principals? Principals on retirement will extend their contracts, and this man, a new professor, has come back into his homeland and is developing the school. And we are against it.”
Source: mywordfmonline.com/Gaspard Ayuureneeya Adongo