MP cuts sod for construction of Nana Avo-Nwiah School after GhanaWeb report

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region, Dorcas Afo-Toffey, has cut a sod for the construction of a six-unit classroom block for Nana Avo-Nwiah M/A Basic School at Tikobo Number Two Forest Junction Community in the Tikobo Number Electoral Area.

The Nana Avo-Nwiah M/A Basic School was established by a private person and was later adopted by the government of Ghana in 2016.

The school made the news in February 2021 after GhanaWeb's Western Regional Correspondent, Daniel Kaku, reported the plight of the school children and the teaching staff who sit in a very deplorable and death-trap bamboo school structure to teach and learn.

Following the report by the GhanaWeb's Western Regional Correspondent, the MP for the area Dorcas Afo-Toffey and her team visited the school to observe the situation and promised the Chiefs, teaching staff, and the children to construct a brand new classroom block for them.

To fulfil her pledge, the MP together with the Jomoro Municipal Education Director visited the school on Saturday, March 5, 2022, to break grounds for the construction of a brand new 6-unit classroom block.

The project when completed will replace the existing deplorable structure which was built by a private individual.

The ultra-modern classroom block is to be completed within six months, with various ancillary facilities including office, staff common room, and toilet facility to facilitate effective teaching and learning.

Speaking at the colourful ceremony, the MP disclosed that the project would cost her over GHc800,000.

She also added that Mr. Ibrahim Mahama has promised to support her with cement to complete the project.

"This project that I am coming to do here will cost me over GHc800,000 and it is not a small amount of money as an opposition MP to get to build but with the help of my friends who saw the videos of the existing classroom block on GhanaWeb and other social media platforms, have promised to support me and Mr. Ibrahim Mahama, the owner of Engineers and Planners has also promised to support me with cement to complete the project so let's applaud Mr. Ibrahim Mahama and others," she said.

The MP took the opportunity to promise to furnish the school building with furniture when completed.

"One thing that will make the school building complete is the furniture so I promise that when the construction is done, I will furnish it with furniture," she promised.

Dorcas Afo-Toffey ending her speech, charged the parents and residents of the area to support the project to be completed on time.

"This project will be completed in six months so I call on parents to support the project, I don't have a contractor, you the parents here are the contractors so support the project, don't let anybody come here to tell you that don't support the project. I know some people will come here to tell you that the MP has given a huge sum of money to a contractor to do it and the contractor wants to spend the money and use it anyhow, don't be deceived, we are all the contractors and I will always come here," she stated.



In an interview with GhanaWeb's Western Regional Correspondent after the sod-cutting ceremony, the MP commended GhanaWeb for the publication that compelled her to act faster to mobilise resources to start the project.

"During the 2020 campaign I saw the school but when my attention was drawn to the publication GhanaWeb put on their website in 2021, I became so worried and promised myself that in 2022 I would try my possible best to construct a brand new classroom block for Nana Avo-Nwiah Basic School and I will say GhanaWeb and other media networks did well, today I have come with the Jomoro Municipal Education Director to cut the sod for a six-unit classroom block with offices and toilet facility," she said.

She added that "I will urge you guys at GhanaWeb to keep on with such stories that will have a positive impact on the people because in Jomoro here we have a lot of challenges facing our schools."

Dorcas Afo-Toffey recently supported the school with 100 pieces of furniture and nine laptops, seized the opportunity to promise to build an ICT laboratory and teachers' Bungalow for the school after the completion of the six-unit classroom block.

"This school lacks a lot, they don't have an ICT laboratory, teachers' bungalow, and a toilet facility so after the six-unit classroom block project, I will build a teachers' Bungalow and ICT laboratory for the school.

"So I will use your platform (GhanaWeb) to call on others to support the school because we need to support our children in this rural community," she added.

On his part, the Chief of Tikobo Number Two, Nana Avo-Nwiah V commended the MP for the intervention and expressed his happiness.

"I'm very very happy for this day and I'm happier than anybody here because this school was named after me and I gave the school to the government so if today the MP has cut sod for it, I have to be happy. The MP has done well because she is an opposition MP and it is not easy to get such an amount of money to construct a six-unit classroom as an opposition MP," he expressed his excitement.

He urged the community folks to provide communal support for the project to be completed on schedule.

"Let me tell you that a lot of schools are looking for such projects in their schools but we are lucky the MP has brought it here so I will tell you the parents here to support the contractor, when they say fetch water, do it, when they say do communal labour, do it, when they say carry gravel, do it, let us all support the project to be completed as soon as possible," he entreated.

Nana Avo-Nwiah V took the opportunity to pledge his support to the project by providing the contractor with gravel and stones.

Mr. George Effah, the Jomoro Municipal Education Director said when he saw the nature of the existing classroom block he wept.

He, therefore, thanked the MP for thinking about the welfare of the school children and the teaching staff by coming to their aid with the construction of a brand new classroom block.



"When I came here today to see the nature of the existing school building, I wept so if today the MP who is an opposition MP has decided to build a new one for you, you have to support her and she deserves commendation so let's clap for her, she has done well," he said.

He took the opportunity to commend the MP for providing the school with dual desks and providing laptops to nine teachers of Nana Avo-Nwiah Basic School.

He, therefore, called on the contractor to honour his timeline and complete the project to provide a conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning to be effective.

"When the contractor was speaking he said he would complete the project by the end of this year, so I will urge him to honour his pledge," he charged.

He also called on the Chiefs and the parents to assist the contractor to finish the project on time.

Mr. George Effah appealed to the MP to support some schools that don't have enough furniture with furniture.

On his part, the Headmaster of the school, Mr. Cletus Azupe gave thanks to God for the intervention and also thanked the MP for thinking about them.

He described the MP as a God-sent MP for Jomoro, "Hon MP for Jomoro is not an ordinary MP but to me is God-sent whomsoever is sent by God is a blessing to us all and I thank God so much that we are highly favored by the Grace of God to being the first school to benefit from her."

"I will urge her not to fear, I will urge her not to help Nana Avo-Nwiah Basic School but other schools in Jomoro. I will urge her working team to continue giving her their maximum support to enable her to bring more development to Jomoro", he said.

The headmaster took the opportunity to commend the Chief of the area, Nana Avo-Nwiah V by providing vast land for the project.

He emphasised that "Sod cutting is not the completion of the project so therefore we have a duty or a role to play in order to get a successful completion of this school building project."