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| Amansie South DCE, Clement O. Gyamfi |
His dream seems bigger than the baobab tree. On the surface, it appears impossible to accomplish. But who are we to doubt him when our elders have admonished us that we do not doubt a man who threatens he will chew a calabash when he had previously chewed a gong?
He is self-motivated to
an extent that one might think Ryan Shupe’s hit song “Dream Big” was
purposefully composed for him as nothing stops him from dreaming as big as the
ocean.
“The vision is that; I
want to build an Amansie South that has zero illiteracy record. I want to build
an Amansie South that the average youth that come from that side can read and
write. I want to build an Amansie South that even if no one is interested in
schooling, the person will come to appreciate why he or she must go to school.
And, I am a living testimony,” said Clement Opoku Gyamfi, Ghana’s youngest
District Chief Executive (DCE).
When I say we must not
doubt him in accomplishing his dreams and he himself affirming his
determination, then, it lies in the fact that the now 32-year old DCE has amassed
and is still amassing numerous certificates to himself. Certificates that will
be ‘living testimonies’ to the youth of Amansie South that when the owner gives
them a reason to also be in school, they can hardly say no to him.
Mr. Opoku Gyamfi, born
to Mr. John Awuni, a police officer, and Madam Sophia Yaa Konadu Duku, a
business woman, had no choice not making school a number one priority. He says,
his father was particularly strict on him and his younger siblings (two boys
and a lady) to, first, marry their books before any other thing.
“So, I started my
schooling at the Newman International School at Abuakwa in the Atwima Nwabiagya
South District and then came to Bantama Station Basic School, all in the
Ashanti region, for my basic education. I, as well, did my senior high school
at Bantama; at the Asanteman Senior High School,” he said.
It was on Tuesday,
August 24, 2021, at the Ghana Cocoa Board’s Lunch
City near the offices of TV3, in Accra, when I sat down listening to Clement
Opoku Gyamfi tell me his intriguing story.
The man who today
occupies a very sensitive position in society said he had his tertiary
education at the then Kumasi Polytechnic now Kumasi Technical University,
graduating with an HND. He would later proceed to the Ghana Institute of
Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for his Bachelor of Science degree.
Mr. Opoku Gyamfi, after
his GIMPA degree, was employed at the Ghana Cocoa Board where he worked for years.
“While at the COCOBOD, I went back to school — GIMPA again! But, this time, to
the law school to pursue an LLB [Bachelor of Laws] which I have successfully
completed in 2020,” the Amansie South DCE told me.
He indicates that,
currently, he is a student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology (KNUST) pursuing MSc Strategic Management and Leadership and he
envisages enrolling at the Ghana School of Law, at Makola in Accra, this year, to
fully complete his legal education which will enable him to be called to the
bar.
Clement Opoku Gyamfi
tells me that then as an employee of COCOBOD, he dressed up to work one day,
somewhere in 2020, and before he could close for the day fate had altered
things in his favour. He had a call that he had been appointed by President
Akufo Addo to man one of his districts in the country — the Amansie South
District.
President Akufo Addo
appointed him DCE on August 6, 2020, and the comments people passed about the
appointment gave him near headaches.
When I asked him to
tell me some of the things people told him about his appointment for the DCE
position, he momentarily sat pensively and said: “The appointment came at a
point when we had three months and a week to [the December 2020] elections. So,
people were a bit skeptic; ‘why are you taking this appointment? You want to
leave COCOBOD to pick a political appointment? What if your party doesn’t win?’”
Mr. Opoku Gyamfi braced
the odds, accepted the offer to be President Akufo Addo’s DCE for Amansie
South. Here is a young man presiding over an area that has a population of
thousands and 86 communities.
So, one year after his
assumption into office as the Amansie South DCE how does he rate his
performance? This was his response to me my question: “Solo[mon], one year down
the lane you’re a living testimony and Ghanaians are living testimonies. They [Ghanaians]
know whether when the appointment was given to that young man, at that tender
age [31 years old at the time], he has delivered, he is delivering or he will
deliver. It’s up to them; they will know. I cannot sit here and say I’ve
delivered, I’ll deliver or I’m delivering.”
Amansie South is
bedeviled with several challenges one of which is low standards of education
and it is this that which Clement Opoku Gyamfi is bent on putting things in
good shape. “If you have the opportunity of reading our [Amansie South District
Assembly] audit report, you realise that under my tenure, I have spent a
greater chunk of the District’s funds on education. Construction and
renovations of schools here and there, making sure that teaching and learning
materials are available. We will not sit there and wait for central government
to do some of these basic things for us,” he said confidently tapping his
fingers on the table that stood between the two of us.
He told me that in his
familiarization tour, upon assumption into office, he realised that schools in
the district do not have computer laboratories. These are schools that do not
even have access to computers. “In fact, Solomon, even if you ask a pupil what
a computer is,” he said signaling a waiter who had approached us to hold on, “they
can hardly hazard an answer. “As a matter of principle and policy, we have
agreed that every structure we build in the district will have a computer
laboratory attached even if it is five (5) sets of computers, the people will
appreciate it.”
Ghana’s youngest DCE says,
the issue of galamsey — illegal gold mining — is also a huge issue in his
constituency and he is making frantic efforts at getting the youth who indulge
in the trade to desist from such. In providing an alternative livelihood to the
galamseyers to stay off illegal mining, Mr. Opoku Gyamfi says he has written a
letter to the Lands Commission, requested for coconut seedlings and soon most
of these illegal miners will be enlisted into coconut farming. That which will
give these youth a new job opportunity and invariably replenish the degraded
lands in Amansie South.
The former employee of
COCOBOD said he has a soft spot for cocoa farmers especially in his
constituency. He makes sure their issues get addressed immediately they come
before him.
During last year’s
Christmas, I saw Clement Opoku Gyamfi on social media interacting with some
kids. He had dressed as Father Christmas; perhaps, an Amansie South Father
Christmas!
He says that “was an
innovative way me, as the District Chief Executive, getting closer to my
constituents. As a plan, every year, there will be a party for all kids and
widows within the district capital. But the donations to the widows is not
limited to the district capital. What we do is, in each of the 86 communities
we pick at least two widows so that — from my own pocket, we do ‘something’ for
them.”
One needs not ask if
the Amansie South DCE is enjoying his position. He really is. But, are there
any challenges he is facing as a DCE? He says yes, there are challenges but he
conquers such with his passion for the job. Mr. Opoku Gyamfi said as the DCE,
the district’s security is in his hands and he strives hard to safeguard it. In
order not to be overwhelmed by the task of managing his district, he has
resorted to practicing a decentralized administration where he gives people
active roles to play.
On his political
ambition, the DCE noted: “That one we leave it to God because I once woke up as
COCOBOD staff and went to bed as a DCE. So, the God of miracles knows whatever
[is good for His children]. Sometimes we propose but He knows best. We are
building it [political career] and we are building it steadily.”
I must say I really enjoyed
my conversation with Clement Opoku Gyamfi. We walked out of our seats with both
of us laughing heartily. I had asked him a simple question which occasioned our
prolong laughter.
“Is Ghana’s youngest
DCE married?” was my question. “Oh Solo, looking at my finger you know I’m not
married,” he retorted. “Hahaha! But Mr. DCE, how would I know if you have
intentionally taken off the ring?”
I look forward to
attending his wedding which he points out it will come off soon. In the
meantime, I can only wish him well in his future endeavours.
May God grant Clement
Opoku Gyamfi the wisdom and ability to effectively deliver his mandate to help
move Ghana towards a better future. Long live Amansie South. Long live our
youngest DCE!
The writer, Solomon Mensah, is a
broadcast journalist with Media General (Onua TV/FM]. Views expressed herein
are solely his, and do not, in anyway, reflect the editorial policy of his
organisation whatsoever.
Email: nehusthan4@yahoo.com
Twitter: @aniwaba
YouTube: @aniwaba
Beautiful piece. I wish him well.
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