MOBA holds annual national conference & business fair

The Mfantsipim Old Boys Association MOBA will hold its Annual National Conference and Business Fair on Saturday 27th January 2018 at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Teshie at 9:00 am.

This is in compliance with the constitution of MOBA which mandates the National Executive Committee to call “Old Boys” of Mfantsipim to a meeting to receive reports, raise funds and conduct any other business that may be determined by the MOBA Council.

For the first time, there will be a Guest Speaker in the person of Dr Andrew Ananie Arkutu of the MOBA Class of 1955 who will speak on the topic “My days at Mfantsipim, and what Mfantsipim means to me.” Other personalities who will address the conference include the Ebusuapanyin (President) of MOBA Capt. Paul Forjoe, the Secretary of MOBA, Mr K. B. Coleman and Mr Manfred Odro, Headmaster of Mfantsipim School. The 2018 Speech Day Planning Committee will also be formally inaugurated.

Another innovation is the Business Fair for business entities who would like to exhibit their products and services. This is open to the general public.

Mfantsipim School was established in 1876 by the Methodist Church in Cape Coast as the first secondary school in Ghana to foster intellectual, moral and spiritual growth. From the beginning of the School until now, Mfantsipim has played a noble role in giving service and leadership to this country and indeed the whole world through its products. Very passionate about the School, the “Old Boys” have over the years demonstrated that spirit of collective and collaborative good towards the development of their alma mater. This has resulted in the evolvement of a tradition that allows Year Groups in decade succession taking charge of planning annual events and undertaking projects in the school on a yearly basis.

In 1888, a letter from an “Old Boy” to the Editor of the “Gold Coast Echo” drew attention to the discouraging state of the school. The “Gold Coast Echo” was owned by John Mensah Sarbah, one of the pioneer students, and the Acting Editor was another “Old Boy” J. E. Casely-Hayford. In 1950, several meetings were held to plan the 75th Anniversary of the school. A fund was launched to assist in equipping and maintaining the Africa section of the School Library with an amount of £270 being raised. The “Old Boys” again raised 200 guineas to enable the School to send four Ghanaian teachers to the UK for refresher courses.

Ebusuapanyin Capt. Paul Forjoe lauds the contribution of Old Boys towards the development of the School and reiterates that “the MOBA Brand is God's gift to us and it's our singular responsibility as “Old Boys” to nurture it and keep it strong. We are very capable of doing this because we have the numbers, the brains, our pride and time-tested traditions.”

It is in this spirit that the “Old Boys” of Mfantsipim will converge at the Auditorium of the KAIPTC to deliberate on matters that will help in the development of both Mfantsipim and MOBA. It will also be an opportunity to rekindle old friendships, reminiscent whilst raising funds to support the school.

The founding fathers of Mfantsipim desired that the School should inculcate in its boys mental discipline, mental honesty, moral courage and above all, the character which is worthy of the Christian foundation of the School. There is no doubt that the record of Mfantsipim is replete with the achievements of the School and of its students which easily exemplify these qualities.

this is summed up in the following words from Headmaster R. A. Lockhart’s address at the Mfantsipim Speech Day of 1933, “Our pupils are not plaster saints, but every boy in the School knows that our allegiance is given to Jesus Christ and some of them recognise His right to rule their lives. If their service is more faithful because of what they learned in this School, then for that alone and for that supremely our work will be justified”.

 

Credit: MOBA Secretariat