Tales of the good old days

Tales of the good old days

Now the good old days are gone,
To God be the glory for reality is dawn-
Life from of old;A story to be told
Told of a society that blossomed like a lily
Told of days we drunk in the same calabash
Played football matches
Drunk palm wine in batches
But never ended up slanging matches
For neighbourhoods were Virgin and divisions were merging.

Those were the days-
Days,I was much older than I am today,
Life was drunken by pleasure,
Wives were heightened treasure
Toil to children was joyful leisure
We stood,elders sat and told fairy - tales
The paths our father's constructed were not sold
Our story was thus,gold.

Now the days are gone,
And here,I speak of the good old days our smiles were innocent
Music made meaning to the kids
It was kpana that made the hits
Bamaya moved the feets
Feok groomed the kids.

But now,the good old days are gone
And we may say the past is sold
We may say society is dead-
Dead to politics
Dead to hatred
Dead to vile envy
We may say the bank of happiness is bankrupt
The solid rock of brotherhood is broken.

The days are gone
And we may say,
We may say neighbourhoods have become islands
Progress a fairy wish land
Mecies that tripled are now,cripled into curses.

Now the good old days are gone,
And so I cry,O great Christ
Thy servant cries
Save us from these crises
For time has stolen the good old days
And I seek those days.

Read more on the blog;( ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com)
Published also on: http://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Tales-of-the-good-old-days-635397

© ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM (AB)
(VILLAGE WRITER)
0241129910/0200704844

MP Champions Campaign For Female Education As Part Of Independence Day Celebration

MP Champions Campaign For Female Education As Part Of Independence Day Celebration

The Member of Parliament for Damongo Constituency,hon. Adam Mutawakilu has led a campaign to support female education in his constituency.

The MP during the occasion of the Independence Day Celebration in the West Gonja District of Northern Ghana,donated a cheque of Ghc5,000 to aid the operations of CAMFED in the District.

In donating the cheque,the legislator launched a passionate appeal to all stakeholders to support CAMFED in a bid to help sustain its operations in the District.
This he said will go a long way to promote the education of the girl child in the District.

The MP made the donation in response to a request from the District Coordinator of CAMFED,Madam Hawa Kifantang.
He guaranteed that he was going to maintain this support throughout the year.

The District Coordinator of the programme received the cheque amidst loud cheers from the gathering.She expressed complete joy for the kind gesture by the MP.

Prior to this donation,the MP had sponsored Royals Club with Ghc3,000 to organize a Spelling Bee and advanced Ghc7,000 to the Ghana Education service to strengthen monitoring and evaluation.He made a payment of Ghc20,000 for student support and donated nine sets of Jerseys to Damongo S.H.S and another six sets to Ndewura Jakpa S.H.T.S.

Background:

Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED),Ghana was launched in the year 1998 in the three Regions of Northern Ghana.It operates in 31 Districts.CAMFED Ghana builds a network around the poor and needy but brilliant girl child with the aim of getting the best of education for them.

The West Gonja District has been part of the 31 beneficiaries of this girl child educational support.The package however is almost ended and it's expected that stakeholders within the District will contribute to its sustenance.

Source:Ananpansah B Abraham

Damongo Girl's Model Wins Maiden GNAT Preindependence Basic School Quiz Competition

Damongo Girl's Model Wins Maiden GNAT Preindependence Basic School Quiz Competition

Damongo Girl's Model J.H.S in the West Gonja District of Northern Ghana has been crowned winner of the just ended GNAT Preindependence Basic School Quiz Competition.
With a total of 40 points,they beat their close contender Jafo J.H.S which polled 32 points.

Canteen J.H.S came third(3rd) with a total of 26 points.St.Anne's J.H.S obtained 19 points to occupy the fourth(4th) position and Jakpa J.H.S comfortably occupied the firth(5th) position with 6 points.

All told,the competition was adjudged a massive success.

The District Chief Executive of West Gonja District,hon.Saaed Muazu in a speech showered high praises on the contestants for displaying such remarkable erudition throughout the competition.
The DCE said he had monitored the programme as it was aired on a local radio station(Radio PAD) before making it to the venue and was impressed at the performance of the pupil.
 
Using his own life story as an example,he admonished the students to shy away from the frivolous amusement and pleasures of today and work hard for a better tomorrow.
He motivated the students to keep hopes alive no matter the circumstances.
He congratulated the GNAT for putting together such a brilliant initiative.

The District treasurer of the GNAT in an address on behalf of the chairman commended the GNAT Youth Desk and GNAT Las for the initiative.
He urged students to learn something from the competition beyond the applause and cheers.And that the success of this maiden edition will pave the way for more of such programmes.

He remarked at last that the quiz competition has been successful and the intended objective duly achieved.

The organizers of the quiz(GNAT Youth Desk/GNAT Las) thanked the contestants for putting up a clean contest.They expressed confidence in the fact that an investment in the students was an an investment in teachers.And that today's students are tomorrow's teachers.They disclosed that plans were underway to strengthen the competition in the subsequent years.They commended Damongo Girl's Model J.H.S for emerging victorious in the maiden edition and wished the other contenders better luck next year.

In attendance were the DCE of West Gonja District,District GNAT executives,the assistant headmaster of DASS,the headmaster of Jafo J.H.S,the headmistress of Damongo Girl's Model J.H.S,manager of radio pad,teachers, students and the media.

All contestants were awarded at the end of the competition.

Source:Ananpansah B Abraham

GNAT HOLDS PREINDEPENDENCE INTER-SENIOR HIGH DEBATE

GNAT HOLDS PREINDEPENDENCE INTER-SENIOR HIGH DEBATE

The Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT) in the West Gonja/North Gonja Districts has successfully held its Preindependence Inter-Senior High School Debate.

The debate which was organized under the aegis of the GNAT Youth Desk together with GNAT LAS forms part of effort to prepare students to better commemorate the 61st Independence Day Celebration.

The bone of contention was,"The independence of Ghana is meaningless and not worth celebrating."

Three(3) Senior High Schools in the West Gonja District featured and took their turn to battle it out for the ultimate prize.These were:Damongo Senior High School,Ndewura Jakpa Senior High/Technical School and St. Anne's Girl's Senior High School.

At the end of the competition,St. Anne's Girl's Senior High School was crowned victor of the GNAT maiden Inter-Senior High School Debate-2018.
They obtained a total of 142 points to beat their close contender Damongo S.H.S who polled 136 points.
Ndewura Jakpa Senior High/Technical School couldn't survive beyond the first round.They dropped out of the competition at the end of the first round after obtaining a total of 133 points.

In a speech read on his behalf,the MP of Damongo Constituency,Adam Mutawakilu lauded the GNAT for the initiative.
He reiterated the fact that he was once a teacher and will always continue to remain a teacher."I was once a teacher and as the saying goes,'once a teacher always a teacher,"he said.
He further stated that he was once a member of the Ghana National Association of Teachers and is still proud to associate with the mother of all teacher unions(the GNAT).He recounted his many contributions towards uplifting the standard of education in the district including student support packages.Whilst stressing his unflinching support to the GNAT in changing the face of education in the district,he pledged a sum of Ghc1,000 in support of the organization of the debate/quiz.

The district treasurer of the GNAT,Laminu Iddrisu in a short message applauded the youth desk /GNAT Las for putting together such a meritorious initiative.He disclosed that the secretariat was ready to commit resources into such initiatives moving into the future.And that the youth desk/Gnat Las will be resourced as much as possible to effectively function and execute their core mandate.

The organizers of the debate(GNAT Youth Desk/GNAT Las) thanked the contestants from the three(3) schools for putting up a clean contest.They expressed confidence in the fact that an investment in the students is an an investment in teachers.And that today's students are tomorrow's teachers.They disclosed that plans were underway to strengthen the competition in the subsequent years.They commended St Anne's Girl's S.H.S for emerging victorious in the maiden edition and wished the other contenders better luck next year.

The debate which was massively attended had dignitaries such as the MP of the Damongo Constituency through his representative,district executives of the GNAT,the director and deputy director of CHRAJ,heads of various decentralized departments,peace corps,the headmistress of SAGGIS,teachers,students and the press gracing the occasion.

All contestant are scheduled to be awarded by the GNAT during the 61st Independence Day Celebration(6th March,2018) at the town park.

The second leg of the competition which is a Preindependence quiz/what do you know is scheduled for Monday 5th March,2018, at DASS Assembly Hall,9:00am.
It will feature five(5) basic schools from the West Gonja District:Damongo Girl's Model J.H.S, Jakpa J.HS, Canteen J.H.S, Jafo J.H.S and St. Anne's R/C J.H.S.

Story by:ANANPANSAH, B ABRAHAM