Police arrest PTA chairman in middle of meeting

Armed police Friday morning stormed the Ashaiman Cluster of Schools, popularly known as the Ashaiman Government School, to arrest the Chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the school, Mr Ebenezer Selase, who was chairing a meeting to discuss the alleged sale of the school's lands and infrastructure to a private developer.

The PTA members were deliberating on the issue to enable them to solicit responses from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA), the Municipal Directorate of Education and the traditional council.

Then, all of a sudden, policemen from the Ashaiman Divisional Police burst into the meeting to whisk Mr Selase away, ending proceedings abruptly.

Mr Selase, whom the police accused of the false publication of news, was later released on bail.

The Ashaiman Police Divisional Crime Officer, Superintendent Tony Addipah, told the Daily Graphic that Mr Selase was granted bail, with a surety to report himself to the police on Monday to assist in investigations.

 “For now we cannot say he will be put before court until our investigations are completed,” he added.

Meeting

The meeting was heavily attended by parents of the over 3,000 pupils and students of the nine schools in the cluster.

The anxious parents, mostly women, were left with no choice but to march to the Divisional Police Headquarters where Mr Selase was first taken, before marching to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly to demand his release.

There was near pandemonium as the women converged on the frontage of the assembly, whose gate was closed to them, while some plain-clothes men who wielded guns and were in a police pick-up vehicle pushed the crowd backwards.

One of the armed men jumped from the car and attempted to seize the mobile phone of the Daily Graphic correspondent who was then recording the chants and jeers of the women.

A national service person attached to the Tema Office of the Graphic Group, Ms Mercy Akpene Amevor, was not spared, as some of the armed men hurled insults at her.

Relocation

Following  allegations in Ashaiman that the school’s land had been sold to a private developer, Mr Selase said, he convened the meeting to enable parents to seek responses from the assembly and its stakeholders who, unfortunately, could not make it to the meeting.

The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Albert Boakye Okyere, expressed his disappointment at the turn of events.

 In an interview with the Daily Graphic, he indicated that he had seen minutes of a meeting by the previous administration detailing a possible relocation of the school owing to the inconvenience and the threat posed to pupils and staff by a nearby market and alleged criminals using the school premises for nefarious activities.

However, he said, no further plans had been made since he took over as MCE, since the assembly did not have funds to relocate the schools.

“We have discussed the relocation issue at our general meetings; however, at no point was the sale of land and infrastructure mentioned, and even if any such programme is to be implemented, we will have to carry out consultations, even if we have funds readily available for it,” Mr Okyere stated.

“Presently, we do not even have a congenial area that can promote teaching and learning, even if we are to pursue the relocation agenda, and, therefore, I find the sale allegation not only frivolous but also mischievous and an attempt to tarnish my image,” he added.

He said the information that had gone around on the alleged sale had not only created panic within the municipality but also dented the image of several stakeholders, adding: “I believe we should be able to seek legal redress to clear our names.”

While allaying the fears of parents, he called on residents to endeavour to seek clarification on issues that might be bothering them before organising what he described as illegal assemblies.

Traditional Council

The Regent of Ashaiman, Nii Anang Adjor, who expressed similar sentiments, said he took time to explain issues to Mr Selase when the PTA chairman first brought the issue to his attention.

According to Nii Adjor, he had been aware of the relocation plans since 2012 and made the parents aware that he had not seen any implementation plan, although there were some drawings of the new structure which he had previously seen.

The Municipal Director of Education, Ms Rose Rejoice Appoh-Biney, said she assumed duty about two weeks ago and did not have the locus to organise the said meeting, since the meeting ought to have been sanctioned by the Municipal PTA Chairperson.

She called on parents to rest assured that teaching and learning would continue at the facility, since the Ghana Education Service had not taken any decision to move out to pave the way for any private development.

Mr Selase

Mr Selase, who was sent to the meeting by the police to substantiate his allegations, said he saw some officials of the assembly during a community engagement programme distributing letters to some members of the community about a supposed relocation of the cluster, saying: “That was when I started asking questions on the rumours.”

He admitted that he probably might have been misinformed into organising the meeting and apologised unreservedly to the MCE and the stakeholders.