Ghanasco fights Kukuo residents over construction of fenced wall

Correspondence from Northern Region

Management of Ghana Senior High School (Ghanasco) in Tamale in the Northern Region are pushing to complete the construction of a fenced wall around the school despite strong resistance by some residents of the Kukuo Community.

The residents have on multiple times pulled down the constructed fenced wall, claiming that the wall will prevent them from accessing the school’s dam, which they say is one of their major source of water.

This tension between the school and the community led to a stakeholders’ meeting between management of the school and the Northern Regional Security Council led by the Northern Regional Minister and Chiefs and opinion leaders of Kukuo.

It was agreed in the meeting that the school should create an exit for the residents to enable them access the dam.

However, the angry youth subsequently pulled down the entire stretch of the wall

claiming that the chiefs did not consult them before agreeing with the creation of just a single exit for the entire community.

This led to the arrest of six persons in connection with the incident but they were later granted bail after tensions went high in the community. The arrest caused more tensions as some unidentified group further pulled down other parts of the wall.

This heightened the tensions between the community and the school, compelling another intervention by the security council.

At a meeting last Monday by the Old Ghanascans Association, it was resolved that construction works continued despite the agitations.

When Ghanaweb visited the school on Wednesday, June 13, the chiefs of the area had mobilised some community members to rebuild some portions of the wall that were destroyed by the residents.

A resident of the area told GhanaWeb that even though they are not against the construction of the wall, “We will not let them deny us access to the dam we contributed monies as a community to construct. We are saying that they should create several gates, maybe five more to this, so that their wall doesn’t inconvenience us”.

The Chairman of the Committee in charge of supervising the construction of the wall, Alhaji Alhassan Abubakari told GhanaWeb in Tamale that the construction of the wall will be completed, despite the agitation.

He said: “we’ll not be cowed into abandoning this important project”, adding that the Old Ghanascans Association (OGA), the group overseeing the construction of the wall, will use all available legal means to see to the completion of the project".

Explaining why it had become necessary to construct the fenced wall, Alhaji Abubakari said the wall would ensure that all exit points are closed, thereby helping to ensure the safety and security of the students.

“The safety of the students is very paramount. That is why students move into town, people move in any time of the night, any time of the day. So when we start that one, it’ll ensure that we close all openings within the school, so, completing the wall is very key in securing the security of the students", he added.

He accused some of the residents of using uncompleted and old structures within the school as their places of convenience, saying the construction of the wall will help stop that.

Some of the students who spoke to GhanaWeb said they were living in fear as rumours had fled on campus that some of the community members threatened to attack them. They appealed to the residents to see them as their younger ones, saying that they as students had no issues with any member of the community.

Alhaji Abubakari assured students and parents of the school that such an attack would not happen. He said the security was on high alert and would thus deal with any resident who will foment trouble in the area.