The disheartening stories of some of the "affected" students of Mampong Nursing and Midwifery Training College

The more Rockson Adofo, the self-declared voice for the voiceless in Ghana, is made conversant with the details of the suffering and difficulties faced by some of the "affected" students of Mampong Nursing and Midwifery Training College and their families, the more he gets annoyed with the principal of the school and her accomplices.

Everything proves that the principal, Mrs Gifty Helena Dwamena Amoah, and her special aide in crime, Mr Paul Antierefa, have embarked on a vicious and calculated agenda to ruin the lives and career of the "affected" students and their families. I shall explain why, in a moment, through the narration of the disheartening stories of some of the students that I have been made aware of.

As callous, unprofessional, lawless, incompetent and obstinate as the principal and her only best buddy at the college are, they have by their actions that are allegedly supported by the Member of Parliament for Mampong Constituency who doubles as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon? Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, caused untold financial and psychological hardships to many of the classified "affected" students.

Let me narrate the sad stories of some of the students and their families to raise public awareness about how the principal of the college, jinxed to be a failure and blemish on principalship, and her now only trusted, but for wicked purposes, friend, the Academic Officer, Paul Antierefa, are.

The principal mentioned in this publication had previously been sacked from a school in Teshie in Accra and also kicked out from a school in Hoehoe in the Volta region prior to being moved to Mampong by the help of the Member of Parliament mentioned above.

Credible information currently in my possession indicates that some of the parents of the "affected" students had initially desired to move their wards to other nursing colleges right from the very inception of the calamitous fate visited upon them by Mrs Gifty Helena Dwemena Amoah and Paul Antierefa.

The parents, following the laid down procedure in place to obtaining academic transcript for their children to enable them seek admission elsewhere, paid one hundred cedis (Ghc100.00) per interested student into the college's bank account at the Ghana Commercial Bank. They took the receipts of payment to the Academic Officer.

He promised to prepare them the academic transcript within a week. However, it became like the usual lawsuits in Ghana where cases are continually repeatedly postponed for all absurd excuses without ever coming into conclusion within reasonable timelines, if there are set timelines at all.

From March 2022 until June 2022, no such student was issued the paid-for academic transcript. Paul Antierefa continues to offer them flimsy excuses to never issue them the requested academic transcripts hence the dismissed or demoted students not being able to avail themselves of securing admissions elsewhere.

That intentional attitude by the Academic Officer to deny the students the chance of furthering their nursing career elsewhere, fits very well into the Akan proverbial saying, "asotro mmienu mma anihanhanie", to wit, "double slap in the face makes one hallucinatorily dizzy".

Some, or almost all of the affected students, did pass their level 200 third and fourth semesters exams, yet they were declared failed, and sacked or demoted. This is the first slap in the face.

Subsequently, some of them did apply for academic transcripts to enable them secure admissions elsewhere, if they were deemed unwanted at the Mampong college.

Nonetheless, the Academic Officer has since the students paying the required fee, been playing tricks on them to not issue them the document requested without which they could not secure admissions elsewhere. This is the second slap in the face to end their career.

What a situation worse than a dilemma that the Akan person may say, "mek3 a enk3, me ba a emma", thus, "I can neither go nor come". That is how the principal and her special aide, must I preferably say, aide-de-camp, have colluded to do to the students.

Now, let me recount the miserable stories of three students and or, their parents.

1. A parent has his daughter among the affected students. The daughter passed the exams, yet she has been demoted; not allowed on the campus and banned from attending lessons. She applied for her academic transcript but has been denied this document since paying the requisite fee as explained earlier. Her financially struggling father who has invested his last dime into the education of his daughter is now starving himself to death. He could well be said to be on a hunger strike.

The mere fact that he has no more hope of getting money from anywhere to help the daughter pursue her career in nursing and midwifery has culminated in the unintentional starvation to death he now finds himself. His expectation was to do whatever he could to raise money to cater for this elder daughter of his, and once she completes her course, finds a job, she could care for the educational needs of her younger sister who is in a secondary school. With her current miserable fate occasioned by the wickedness, unprofessionalism and the joy of seeing one suffer, as masterminded and orchestrated by the principal, her special aide and alleged supporter in the person of the MP, the father's expectation of securing his two daughters, only children of course, future better life, has been truncated.

He weeps during the day, in the afternoon and at night when he goes to bed. Recently, he is said to have gone for a bath. At a point, his sister could not see him come out of the bathroom, or hear any noise of one taking a bath going on. The silence went on for about an hour. The sister getting a bit alarmed, rushed to knock on the door. There was no answer. She forced the door open and was met by the scene of her brother leaning his head against a wall. She shouted his name. When he opened his eyes, the sister asked, what is happening to you? He could only barely say, it is my daughter's (name mentioned) school problem that has gotten to me so badly hence relapsing into silence and semi-consciousness at times.

Should this parent not be helped out of his problem now, through advice and assurances that things will get better soon, his wife risks becoming an untimely widow and the daughters orphans, that is certain.

2. One of the affected students was a poor hardworking cleaner at a hospital. She became motivated by the professionalism of the nurses and the respect accorded them by the patients and the public to desire to become a nurse herself than to continue in the less respected cleaning job. Subsequently, she saved enough money over years to get herself enrolled on a nursing course at the Mampong Nursing and Midwifery Training College, only for her dreams to be messed up by the principal of the college. How could this self-motivated poor woman attain her objective to becoming a nurse to be of service to her country and humanity? She has lost her cleaning job already.

3. There is this one woman from a very poor family background. Her mum is a fishmonger with very little money. However, as determined as the mum is to ensure that at least one of her children gets a better and decent job in future, the student helps her mum with selling fish whenever she is on holiday and has time. Now, this poor mum and her daughter's expectation has gone up in flames owing to the callousness of the principal and her special aide.

Why should we sit on the fence twirling our fingers when two unfeeling persons, the principal and the special aide, so wickedly destroy the future of these young nursing students?

To conclude, I shall advise all the powers-that-be, from the Health Minister trickling down to the Board of Governors, stakeholders and the entire staff of the college, to ensure that justice is done to the students without any further delay.

How I hope this jinxed principal, a misfit in her post, was given a boot from her principalship at the college to restore academic decency to the school to bring joy and smiles to the faces of both the students and the entire staff members.

To the principal, I say, "obstinacy is the cause of the horns of the hornbill" and, "the fly that has no one to advise it follows the corpse into the grave"

Affected students, please attend the meeting scheduled for Monday, 20 June 2022, whether you are a dismissed student or a demotee. The parents/guardians MUST accompany you to the meeting. However it goes, update the Minister of Health as well as freelancer Rockson Adofo, the proud and fearless son of Kumawu/Asiampa soil.

Good luck to you, ye affected students resolutely determined to ensure that justice becomes yours at last!

Determination is the key to success. God is with you. The no-nonsense audacious son of Kumawu/Asiampa soil is also with you. In unity, we shall prevail over the principal and her malevolent colluders.

He who comes across this publication must please do me the little favour of forwarding it to their friends until it reaches the desk of His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the biblical Moses or Joseph of our modern day Ghana.

Rockson Adofo

Thursday, 16 June 2022