A day before the district level elections which was held in December last year, I wrote on Facebook praising one man. He had stood for reelection as the Assemblyman for the Atoase Electoral Area in Sunyani in the Bono Region. Isaac Yaw Brenya, affectionately known by many as Koo Zee, was again vying for the seat he had ‘sat on’ for years.
“Koo Zee would even use his own money to purchase streetlights if government does not provide such. And, here is a man who could turn himself into a watchman at night to face thieves,” I wrote. Then, as a freelance journalist, I had done a story on him on his planting of over 12,000 trees in the Sunyani Municipality and parts of the Central Region. Do not hold your breath yet. This is but a fraction of the good works this man has done even beyond his constituency.
So, I was certain he will be voted again into power as the Assemblyman of the Atoase Electoral Area. However, that did not happen this time round. Now that Koo Zee has been ousted from the assembly post certainly because he had outgrown that, one would think he will delve deeper into politics. Nonetheless, knowing him so well as he taught me Asante Twi at SUSEC (Sunyani Senior High School), it is unlikely he will take up such a challenge.
In my said Facebook post, I had indicated that the good folks in our society are running away from mainstream politics leaving many bad nuts corrupting the system. I believe if we had one Koo Zee each in the 16 regions, Ghana would have been a better place by now.
Reflecting on this, however, comes to mind yet another fantastic [young] man I know.
On January 9th, 1988, Madam Dora Kyere Amanoa put smiles on the face of her husband, Mr. Stephen Yaw Boadu. She had been delivered of a baby boy in Berekum in the Bono Region who would later be named Solomon Kyere-Boadu. The joy that followed the announcement of the birth of the boy transcended the very home of the couple. At Kato and Biadan, the hometowns of the couple, respectively, well-wishers prayed Boadu Jr. became useful to his community and Ghana at large. And, as fate would have it, this prayer appears perfectly been answered by God.
As a true indigene who grew up in Berekum until he completed his basic and junior high schools in 2002 all at the AKAB Complex School in the area, Solomon Kyere-Boadu, also called King Solomon, gained admission to SUSEC. That was in 2003 and he completed in 2006. Here, he became my School Prefect!
For his love for humanity, he abandoned his university admission in 2007 with the hope of gaining admission into the Nursing Training College where he could directly care for people. This, however, could not materialize. The Principal at the college where he attended interview refused King Solomon admission by ‘prophetically’ insisting that his grades and demeanor portrayed that of a good leader and even future president. But, can we not have a nurse ascending to the seat of government? Well, ‘I can’t keel myself over this principal.’
My former School Prefect would the following year enroll at the University of Ghana where he studied for his Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) in Political Science and Linguistics. He completed in 2012.
He studied for other academic certificates from the BT Group International’s Corporate Executive Management Training Programme in Accounting and Financial Management as well as Human Resource Management, all in 2009.
Mr. Kyere-Boadu undertook his one year mandatory national service at the Army Headquarters at Burma Camp under the Ministry of Defence, specifically at the Directorate of Military Records, from September 2012 to August 2013. Immediately after the mandatory service, he gained employment as a Community Development Officer of the Department of Community Development under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Greater Accra Region.
Due to his hard work and dedication to work, he was later seconded to the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) where he worked as a data entry officer for Hedge Pensions Trust (Fund Managers of CLOGSAG) and also assisted the public relations officer in the discharge of his duties.
In March 2015, he got an appointment as a Special Services Officer at the Cocoa Marketing Company (GH) Limited, a subsidiary of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), at the Takoradi Take-Over Center and subsequently transferred to the Kumasi Take-Over Center of the same company where he currently works.
Mr. Boadu later on enrolled as a student of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) where he read an MSc in Defence and International Politics (MDIP) and completed in August 2017. His research thesis looked into a very important aspect of our development and general security as a nation and was selected as one of the best five (5) theses for the academic year. He wrote on the topic, “The Role of Civil Society in the Formulation of a National Security Policy: A Case Study of Ghana”.
Aside these enviable academic laurels chalked by this young man, he has as well served in many capacities of student leadership and volunteerism, winning him several recognitions and awards.
In 2005, he became the Speaker of the Sunyani Senior High School’s Debating Club. They emerged national champions in that year. Still a student at SUSEC, Kyere-Boadu ascended the seat of the most covetous office at the students’ level as the School/Senior Prefect. His administration was the 2005/2006 academic year and he handled himself and his office so well that nobody till date could point to a single blot on his sleeves.
Many years after completing SUSEC, the young man has been at the forefront of further serving society wherever he finds himself. In 2009/2010 academic year, he was the Secretary of the Sunyani Senior High Old Students Association at the University of Ghana, Vice President of Berekum Tertiary Students Association from May 2009 to 2010 and Second Deputy Minority Whip of the University of Ghana Parliament House in the 2010/2011 academic year.
From May to August 2011, he volunteered and taught as the “Government” teacher at his alma mater – SUSEC – where he handled students of Form ones and twos. During the 2011/2012 academic year, Mr. Kyere-Boadu became the Vice President of the University of Ghana’s Students Representative Council (SRC).
It is not surprising that on 20th April, 2012, he was awarded as the Most Composed Student Leader of the 2011/2012 academic year by the Excellent Leadership Awards Group (ExLA Group).
Mr. Kyere-Boadu believes in giving back to society and from time to time, he partners with the Keruso Foundation [Berekum] in supporting brilliant but needy students through various levels of their education. Through the Foundation, he has given scholarships to about eight (8) students of various levels in the Berekum Municipality to be able to go to school.
He sometimes supports individuals and groups in providing exercise books and drinking water to the students and natives of the villages in the Berekum Municipality. The interesting part of this narrative is that he does these donations without taking to social media to tell the whole world that he has assisted someone.
Not long ago when I had a chat with him on such, he said to me something that really got me thinking. “Solo, I do these giving anonymously through the Keruso Foundation. And as a Christian, my values teach me not to show what I do for the needy, especially when most people take to social media on that for self-aggrandizement,” he said.
Mr. Solomon Kyere-Boadu believes ardently in the power of the youth as the engine of growth to bring the kind of change we want in the country, therefore, encourages them to be the best that they can be in whichever capacity they find themselves.
He who has ever read my opinion pieces on Ghana’s political sphere would attest that I am very critical on most of our greedy politicians. I do not hate their profession but how many of them have those they serve at heart? So, when today you read from me introducing to you someone I think should be not just in mainstream politics but must stand to be elected as a Member of Parliament for Berekum East, then it tells you that indeed this person has something to offer Ghanaians at large.
The man I have personally known for 17 years undoubtedly hopes to rise to the highest level of leadership where he can affect not only the lives of Ghanaians but the world.
Yesterday, January 9, 2020, was his birthday. Silver and gold I have not. What I rather have is to spur him for greatness. I want to see and hear him loudly proclaim that he is contesting the seat of the Berekum East Constituency to serve the people of Berekum and Ghana as a whole.
I think that I need not tell you my one reason why I want Mr. Solomon Kyere-Boadu become a Member of Parliament, right? Reading through his profile, what readily comes to mind is his selfless leadership— that which Ghana really needs!
I attended Berekum College of Education [in Berekum] and as a native of the area, I want to see Berekum’s long lost accolade The Golden City restored. And, I also want to see Members of Parliament enacting proper laws and promoting good course in this country so Ghanaians do not get to cross the Mediterranean for greener pastures.
Mr. Kyere-Boadu, like Koo Zee my Asante Twi teacher, is one of the patriots that can get us to our dreamland!
By Solomon Mensah
The writer is a broadcast journalist with Media General (TV3/3FM). Views expressed here are solely his and do not, in anyway, reflect the editorial policy of his organisation.
Email: nehusthan@yahoo.com
Twitter: @aniwaba