TROUBLE Brews At Apewosika JSS

The tension between the Headmistress of the Apewosika JSS and her staff member, Mr. Setum Ametefe, is threatening the smooth academic work of the school and the earlier the authorities at the Ghana Education Service in Cape Coast move in to forestall further altercations, the better it would be for all the parties involved in this conflict and the students at large.

The long and short of it all is that, when Mr. Ametefe Assumed duty at the Apewosika JSS after his Bed. Basic Education from the University of Cape Coast, the bungalow attached to the school for the headmaster or the headmistress was unoccupied, since the headmistress was and is still living with her husband.

To make things easier for the newcomer, considering the exorbitant rent being charged by landlords in that part of Cape Coast due to its proximity to the university, it was decided that the bungalow be released to Mr. Ametefe, who of course is the second most senior member of staff.

But months on, what looked like a gentleman’s agreement between the headmistress and her staff has started generating tensions between the two who have become so antagonistic towards each other. This is actually affecting the smooth academic work which used to prevail in the school prior to this development.

According to Mr. Ametefe, he has been so respectful to this woman to the extent that when she received her church members, he sometimes would have to vacate the room and spend the night with friends elsewhere in order to allow the visitors some space to themselves. This has been going on for sometime now. He intimated that sometimes the visits are too frequent and the numbers unreasonable to the extent that they impede on his own privacy and distort his weekly academic schedule.

The last straw that broke the proverbial camel’s thin back, according to him, was that, he was in the balcony of his bungalow when one of such unannounced visitors arrived a few weeks ago. And, without greeting him or saying a word to him, opened the front door to the hall and entered the room. He, therefore, decided to question this fellow and also use the opportunity to reprimand her to observe what he referred to as etiquettes.

This did not go down well with the unannounced visitor and the headmistress had to step in to demand the keys to the bungalow which was constructed with the taxpayers’ hard earned tax. This did not go down well with Mr. Ametefe who, apparently infuriated by the move of the headmistress, has decided to be adamant to her request and rather threatened legal action. From a reliable source, Mr Ametefe, feels that it is just about the greed that has taken hold of this country to the extent that facilities that are meant for institutions could be monopolized for commercial purposes by individuals who do not even need them in the first place.

But as the saying goes, whenever two elephants clash, the grass suffers. There is tension within the school at the moment with the staff sharply divided over the issue. This is in fact hampering academic work of the school and the GES must move in as soon as practicable to resolve the issue before it explodes.