Chamber of Mines Presents a Cheque of GH₵10K to Dakpema Education Fund

One of the major highlights of the two-day visit by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Sulemanu Koney, to the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, is the presentation of a cheque of ten thousand Ghana cedis to the Dakpema Education Fund.

The gesture by Mr. Koney is to support needy but brilliant students who are under the care and support of Naa Dakpema Mohammed Alhassan Dawuni.

“……As they say, education is the key. You can take someone from the backstreets of the remotest and poorest village to become the head of the country. And therefore, we felt that if indeed he started a good initiative like this in Tamale then why don’t we come and support because once we support we’re likely to be able through this fund to pull people who are willing and serious about learning to greater heights.

“So it is our desire and expectation as well as prayer through this widows mite of ours at the Chamber of Mines Secretariat we would be able to motivate a lot more younger people to do well in school and even when they do well in school, they shouldn’t forget where they are actually coming from”, Mr. Koney said yesterday in Tamale at the Naa Dakpema’s Palace as he presented the cheque to him.

This is however not the first time the Ghana Chamber of Mines led its CEO has presented a cheque of such an amount to the Dakpema Education Fund. The first cheque was presented in 2016 with a promise to support the fund continuously for three years.

On his part, the Secretary to Naa Dakpema, Alhaji Rashid, expressed his appreciation to Mr. Koney and his delegation for paying courtesy call on Naa Dakpema and very importantly, honouring his promise to continuously to support the Dakpema Education Fund.

According to him, since the introduction of the government’s free senior high school education policy, the Dakpema Education Fund has diverted its attention and support to tertiary students, many of whom struggle to pay their admission fees.

“Government has now introduced the free SHS and we’re very grateful. The burden on us to sponsor students to the SHS has now been removed by the government. We’re now focusing on those who are going to the tertiary. 

“This part of the country is so impoverished that parents find it difficult to even afford one thousand Ghana cedis let alone students who are going to the tertiary institutions which are demanding three thousand Ghana cedis and more. And so we’re very grateful that your donation has come at the very right time”, Alhaji Rashid stated.

Earlier Mr. Koney and his team also paid a courtesy call on the Northern Regional Minister Salifu Saeed to inform him of their presence and mission in the region.

“We believe that we have a responsibility to go round the country and brief the citizens on especially responsible and sustainable mining, because the mineral resources belong to each and everyone of us, so generally the people of Ghana should understand the mining industry and that’s why we decided that we should move out of the mining areas and come to the North”, he indicated.

The Minister informed Mr. Koney about the fact that the youth in his region were very determined to work but there were no jobs and so “I urge the Chamber to create job opportunities for the idle youth.

“If the Chamber of Mines has the intention to set up an institution to train the youth, it will reduce rural-urban migration. My office is ready to partner with the Chamber to explore the natural resources that abound in the area”, Mr. Saeed noted.

Meanwhile the Chamber of Mines will today hold an interaction with selected journalists in Tamale as well as students of the University for Development Studies.