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26.03.2023 Feature Article

Building Awutu Senya West Constituency: Eugene Arhin goes the Ubuntu way

Building Awutu Senya West Constituency: Eugene Arhin goes the Ubuntu way
26.03.2023 LISTEN

In his bid to contribute his quota towards the development of Awutu Senya West Constituency, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, has introduced a couple of projects.

Through the Eugene Arhin Foundation, he has addressed a few educational challenges in the area. He has for instance, built a Community Library and ICT Centre at Awutu Beraku and a school for the people of Obodakaba to stop the children in this community from travelling to other towns for their basic education.

Mr Arhin has also leveraged his position as the Director of Communications at the Presidency and close relations with President Akufo-Addo to lobby for the construction of the Akoti Junction-Senya Beraku and the Ofaakor-Bawjiase Roads. Recounting how Mr Arhin pressurized him for these projects, President Akufo-Addo once said, "Eugene Arhin does not give me briefing space because of his people."

Upon introducing numerous projects in the constituency, including providing Senior High Schools in the area with mechanised boreholes, Mr Arhin has realised that Awutu Senya West is still saddled with many problems.

This has perhaps influenced the kind hearted young man to go the Ubuntu way. Thus, he has started inculcating the spirit of "I am because you are." in the youth of the area. He is doing this by lobbying permanent job opportunities for the long forgotten youth who had fruitlessly searched for those jobs.

To this end, he has assisted 16 qualified youth in Awutu Senya West to secure jobs with the Ghana Education Service (GES). Sources close to the Director of Communications have also revealed that he is currently working for some 26 more slots.

Similarly, through his recommendations, youth in the area have also secured jobs with Ghana Audit Service, Ghana Cocoa Board, Ghana Revenue Authority, the security agencies and other public and civil service institutions.

When Mr Arhin was once asked why he had resorted to empowering the youth of the area, he gave a response that I believe the assisted youth would be fired up to give their best to their communities and the country as a whole if they hear it.He said, "Though unfortunate, we have found ourselves in a country that the rich and the poor produce their kind." "This should tell you that a community without capable hands might also produce its kind," he stressed.

He further explained that it would take the people of Awutu Senya West Constituency to develop the place. He therefore, concluded that if the people themselves are not developed, they will not be able to meaningfully contribute to the development of their communities.

What was more touching was when he referenced the South African concept of Ubuntu, which is literarily translated to mean, "I am because you are" and said it was time to let the youth appreciate the fact that their welfare is connected to the welfare of others. He believes the best way to inculcate this into them is to offer them the assistance they need to live fulfilled lives.

It is my wish that all the indigenes of Awutu Senya West Constituency will embrace this Ubuntu Culture that Eugene Arhin preaches and practices. If they do, the place will soon experience a jet propelled development.

The author is an essayist and a social commentator.

By Bala Ali

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