The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwoi thrilled the crowd that attended the 63rd Anniversary Speech and Prize Giving Day of Prepmeh College in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital on Saturday when he recounted how he was suspended from school after sneaking out to watch movies in the 1960s.
Mr. Ahwoi was the guest speaker at the ceremony which coincided with the celebration of the college�s 5th founding fathers� and pioneer students� day. The country�s 29th Minister of Food and Agriculture said he sounded the college�s bell for roll call ahead of time in order to travel to Rivoli cinema at Bantama, a suburb of Kumasi to watch the then most popular movie entitled �from here to eternity.�
Mr. Ahwoi said he muted a crafty idea of sounding the bell ahead of time so that the roll call could be performed to enable him to escape to town without inviting trouble for himself. He said before he secretly left the school which was not fenced at the time, he dressed his bed at Freeman�s house to depict a sleeping student.
The Food and Agric Minister observed that �little did I know that my house had smelt a rat in the pulling of the bell ahead of time and therefore called for fresh roll call while we were away enjoying the movie.�
Mr. Ahwoi noted that while he and the gang of 72 including his senior brother, Ato Ahwoi were enjoying themselves at the cinema they heard the sound of the roll call bell and they ran to the school. He revealed that despite the over-whelming athletic prowess they exhibited that fateful evening, they could not be counted and therefore had to face the consequence of their indiscipline conduct.
Mr. Ahwoi stressed that they packed their belongings and left for home.
He said his poor mother who used to squeeze water out of stone to cater for their education due to the death of their father broke down in tears and nearly developed an ailment when she saw them home with their trunks.
Mr. Ahwoi said his mother, who sold pastries at the time, continued to cry, a development which made him to turn a new leaf in school.
The minister noted that he obeyed the rules of the school and studied his books because of that commitment. He pointed out that he passes his �O� Level examination with distinction to enable him to gain admission to St Augustine�s College for the Sixth Form.
The food and agric minister therefore entreated the students to uphold the tenets of discipline and also get busy with their books in order to become important personalities in the society. �If I had not changed my ways to become a disciplined student, a pastries seller like my type would not be celebrated today as the 29th Food and Agric Minister of our country, so dear �Amanfoo� I will urge you to inculcate the habit of discipline because that is the key to success,� he said amid thunderous applause.
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