The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Seth Agidi, has stressed the need for Ghanaian leaders to exhibit high levels of commitment to serving the people that they lead, rather than adapting to selfish practices that would only enrich themselves, as the majority of the people are left to suffer.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Agidi said the challenges confronting the country was a result of bad leadership because leaders no longer serve the people, but focus their attention on activities that would make them rich and very comfortable in society, to the detriment of the poor and the less-privileged, saying the time had come for leadership to be human-focused.
Preaching the sermon on the theme: “Focus on people first” at the induction service for a new Headmaster for Mawuli School in Ho, Mr. Kwame Tawiah Agor, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the EP Church pointed out that it was very crucial for leaders to lead good examples by being honest in using resources available to develop the people.
“Our leaders no more serve the interest of the people, they only think about themselves, as they always buy new cars and build new houses for themselves, a development that continues to make only a few in society live happily, as the majority of the people continue to suffer,” he bemoaned.
2Rt. Rev. Dr. Agidi urged the government to pay more attention to the wellbeing of the people, because Ghanaians were suppressing one another. He pointed out that anytime the opportunity was given somebody to serve, such services should be regarded as service to God, which ought to be executed well; “for I am afraid, in Ghana, because even pastors are selling prayers to the needy in our society”.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Agidi observed that leaders were appointed to serve God through the type of services that they offer, and if such services were properly executed, peace and security would be achieved, however, if selfishness over shadows the services being rendered by leaders, it would only create problems for society, and the much desired peace would elude the nation.
“We are here to serve God through the services that we offer, and if we do it well, peace and security would be achieved, but if we work selfishly, we would create problems for ourselves, because if a few persons are rich and the majority are in need, we would not have peace, as people would break the doors and shoot in the street. Please, let everybody get something little, and not only the few”.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Agidi noted that some teachers no more take their lessons seriously, as the cases of teacher absenteeism and lateness to school still remained a major problem, and asked the new Headmaster to work hard and build from where his predecessors had left, to improve on academic and the moral life of the students.
5The Director in charge of Higher Education in the Volta Region, Mr. Emmanuel Bedi, commended the former headmasters for the various roles they played in the development of the school, saying the new headmaster, Mr. Agor, had curved a niche for himself as a transformational leader, and urged him to adopt innovative ways in the administration of the institution to enhance development.
The Assistant Headmaster of the School in charge of Academics, Rev. S.S Asieni, said Mawuli School was 65 years old, and Mr. Agor would be the 46th head of the institution, and appealed to stakeholders to contribute meaningfully towards the development of the institution. He revealed that the administration had lauded the efforts of the 1990 Year Group of the school for the provision of a modern gate for the school.
2Mr. Agor said, having taken over the administration of Mawuli School on the 29th of May 2015, he would work hard to address the challenges confronting it. He said that records indicate that the academic performance in the school had fallen, and that even though the institution continued to score 100 percent at the West Africa Secondary Certificate Exterminations, it was clear that many of the candidates did not qualify to enter tertiary institutions.
Mr. Agor, who is noted for his high level of discipline, pointed out that he was prepared to help change the trend, by strengthening the passes, to ensure that students would be able to enter any tertiary institutions upon completion of their courses.
The new Headmaster, according to records, obtained a number of degrees and attended many international and local conferences on issues of education, and was the former headmaster of the Sogakorpe Senior High School (SOGASCO) in the South Tongu District, where, according to a management member of the school, the footprints he left in the school were high discipline, improved administration, and physical transformation.
Mr. Agor, through hard work for the 35 years of dedicated service in the Ghana Education Service (GES), rose through the ranks to a Deputy Director of Education, and currently, is the Volta Region Chairman of the Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools, a position he continues to lead with dedication.
The management of Mawuli School also used the occasion to award three past headmasters, including Mr. Winfred Bonsi, for their contributions, which had helped immensely in the development of the school over the years, a moment that brought smiles on the faces of these hard working past headmasters and their families, who accompanied them to the occasion.
A former Headmaster of the School, Mr. Bonsi, on behalf of his colleagues who were honoured, thanked the school authorities for the honour done them, saying they were committed to serving as leaders to ensure that much would be achieved during their period in office respectively, without thinking of being rewarded for the roles played during their times.
Mr. Bonsi urged the various stakeholders in Mawuli School to support Mr. Agor to enable him continue with the development activities in the school. He further noted that it was crucial for them to do all possible to ensure that the new headmaster succeeds, because if he fails, he would not fail as an individual but collectively, which would mean that Mawuli School, as an institution, was unsuccessful.
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