Mensin Gold Bibiani Limited climaxes year-long educational support to communities

The Resolute Foundation Advisory Panel under the Mensin Gold Bibiani Limited in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipal Assembly has completed a project dubbed “RFAP Inter JHS Debating Competition” for all the thirty-nine (39) Junior High Schools within the communities in which it operates.

In October 2018, as a follow-up to the RFAP Inter-School Quiz held in February, the Resolute Foundation Advisory Panel approached the Ghana Education Service with the idea of organizing a debating competition for the Junior High Schools in the catchment of the RFAP. The Ghana Education Service in Bibiani accepted the initiative whereupon preparation towards the project was commissioned.

The debate competition started with the preliminary stages for all the schools in two categories, Public and Private. Brightest and Best JHS emerged winners in the private school category, whereas Bibiani M/A ‘A’ emerged as the winner in the public-school category.

Following that, the grand finale was held to compete for the overall best debating school in the competition. The Bibiani M/A ‘A’ emerged as the overall best debating school in the competition.

The winner of each category was awarded with a trophy while prizes that were awarded in the competition are Certificates of Achievement to all participants, sets of syllabus-based books to all the best debating students in every preliminary, as well as the final competition.

The finalist schools had one notebook computer each whereas the finalist debating students had a notebook computer each for their personal use. The Winner of the competition was awarded with a trophy which was received by Master Ebenezer Acquah (who was also adjudged the overall best debating student) on behalf of his school.

At the function to climax the year-long educational support, the RFAP Chairman, Mr. Isaac Osei Yeboah pointed out that the Resolute Foundation was pleased to be a partner in assisting to build the communities and urged the students to inculcate the habit of working together in building their communities for that is the mission of the RFAP.

The General Manager of Mensin, Mr. Bennett Kunkyebe said the company, as part of its corporate social responsibilities, is committed to assisting in initiating and working out programmes that will help improve the local economy. He encouraged the students to take their academic works seriously so that they would grow to be responsible members of society and their households.

Nana Kyem Kofi Ankoanah, who chaired the function, said that as a retired educationist, he is always interested in the good course of school children. He therefore urged the school children to take the opportunity offered by Mensin Gold through the Resolute Foundation Advisory Panel and learn very hard so that when they get enrolled into governments double track system of the Free SHS in the country, they will excel to sustain the system.

The Municipal Director of Education, Mrs. Mercy Emefa Boateng, expressed her profound gratitude to the mining company for the support that it has granted to the directorate since the establishment of the Resolute Foundation two years ago. In all, the function was attended by community members, students, RFAP community representatives, Hon. Assembly members and youth groups in Bibiani.

In a separate development, the company through the Resolute Foundation presented industrial sized gas ovens to ten (10) women in support of their bakery and confectionery activities under the income generation pillar of the RFAP. The Panel and MGBL had assisted these beneficiaries to undergo skills, and basic business management (including entrepreneurship) training under its pilot project in creating sustainable alternative livelihood for interested community members.

Mr. Abdul Rahman, the Municipal Coordinating Director of the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipal Assembly in assisting the RFAP to present the donation said that this gesture from Mensin Gold is in line with government’s efforts in helping ameliorate the level of poverty in rural Ghana and further expressed his gratitude to the company for sharing in the agenda of government in transforming the economy of Ghana for a better standard of living. He however, cautioned the beneficiaries to take good care of the gas ovens so that they would serve a better example worthy of emulation.