Have you heard about Akyerema ’76, all ye alumni and alumnae of Tweneboa Kodua Secondary School?

To start with, I will request anyone coming across this article to forward it to their friends, family members, present and past schoolmates, and whoever is deemed eligible to know about it, using all legitimate means.

This publication is intended to reach out to all former students of the Tweneboa Kodua Secondary School (TKSS), now Tweneboa Kodua Senior High School, who completed their 5-year secondary school education at the school in 1976.

Whether any such student started in form one in the 1971-1972 academic year, or joined in from another school at any level, if they completed their education at TKSS in 1976, they are those that I am addressing.

It is to inform them of the formation of Akyerema ’76, a grouping of year-1976 alumni and alumnae of the school for several good reasons.

Since the end of June 1976 when we left the walls and campus of TKSS, most of us have neither set eyes upon nor heard from, any of the classmates of whom we were best friends, prepped and “mined” together.

Let me make myself clear on the “prepped” and “mined” as used above. Prep was our 2-hour mandatory after-dinner self-tutored classes undertaken by students at the school, from Monday to Friday, while “mining” was the study for a period at dead night when others were deep asleep, probably snoring and having sweet dreams. This is just by the way.

I have had the opportunity to speak and exchange WhatsApp correspondences with some of the classmates that I had not seen, or spoken with, since the end of June 1976, roughly about forty-seven years ago.

Those who have currently registered their interest in Akyerema ’76 are having the chance to see the present state of their classmates. How they have aged in wisdom, and intelligence and acquired academic excellence and success in life.

If there was any such membership long before we became retirees as some of us are at the moment, we could have been of immense help to ourselves, our families, and our alma mater. We may in the years gone by, have needed the assistance of some of us, either for ourselves or for members of our family, based on “whom you know” but by merit.

It is never too late for anything as long as we are still alive hence the formation of Akyerema ’76.

The benefits to accrue to members and our former school (TKSS) are enshrined in the draft constitution that is about to be approved by signed-up members.

Why not derive joy from reconnecting with your former classmates?

So far, all the signed-up members, regardless of their age, successes, or failures in life, do have absolute respect for one another. We address each other as seniors, a sign of respect we have for one another.

In order not to commit any unconscious or genuine mistake that may be seen as biased, I shall not name the present signed-up members of Akyerema ’76 that I am aware of.

Should I forget to mention any when naming them, the unintentionally left out member(s) may take offence hence I had better avoid that situation. However, it will interest many to learn that we have our 1976 School Prefect and his Assistant, and the Girls Prefect as members of Akyerema ’76.

Once again, let me inform the 1976 Year Group of the loss of a classmate in the person of then-student Antwi Boasiako Charles aka ABC, the House Four Prefect. He died on Monday, 27 November 2023, as Professor Charles Antwi Boasiako. He was a professor at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.

He died in Reading in the United Kingdom while on one of his usual holiday visits to his wife and children. His remains will be flown back to Ghana between the 16th and 18th of December 2023, and kept in a morgue, pending the date of his funeral as may be decided by his family.

His one-week observance will be held in his hometown Bipua near Agona on Wednesday, 20 December 2023. Let us all go and mourn with the family. May ABC’s soul rest in peace.

Since departing from TKSS, I had only to hear from him for the first and the last time on our Akyerema ’76 platform. He was one of the administrators hence an originator of the group.

Members’ personal information will remain confidential and within the group so feel free to join all ye 1976 TKSS school-leavers!