Twice Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces and the current National Security Advisor, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah at 72 years has endeared himself to the chiefs and people of Agona East Constituency in the Central region for his selflessness and devotion.

General Nunoo-Mensah, who as a little boy decided to start school entirely on his own, and who, though hails from Winneba in the Efutu Constituency of the Central region has adopted three Agona towns in the Agona East Constituency; Agona Kwanyaku, Agona Nsaba and Agona Duakwa- as part of his social responsibility of giving back to society.

Gen Nunoo-Mensah, also known as Kwesi Nunoo, as a young boy growing up at Winneba, by sheer coincidence found himself in school because he wanted to play; went through struggles and had to combine school with work to self-finance his secondary education with the help of his older siblings and other relations.

The National Security Advisor to President Mills who is noted for being very outspoken has personally and with support from his in-laws built two semi-dethatched bungalows for the Agona Kwanyaku maternity clinic to entice medical personnel posted there to stay and work to help reduce maternal mortality.

At Agona Nsaba, Gen Nunoo-Mensah, a staunch Christian is constructing a 6 unit classroom block, which is currently at the foundation level for the predominantly Muslim Zongo community from his personal resources.

And still at Agona Nsaba, through the instrumentality of Gen Nunoo-Mensah, the GETFUND has awarded a GHC150,000 contract for the re-construction of six unit school block for his alma-mater, built in 1951 and known then as Nsaba Boarding School.

“General has been touched by the plight of the Zongo women who are engaged in palm kernel oil extraction, and who are daily seen with babies on their backs working in the scorching sun in Agona Nsaba and has therefore decided to provide them with a shed. This is his next project for the people of Nsaba”. Gen Nunoo-Mensah’s special aide, Jakwa told this paper in an interview.

According to Jakwa, apart from all that the General has done for his adopted constituency of Agona East he has also single-handedly completed the construction of a store/ware house for the Senya Secondary school at Senya Berekum in the Effutu district.

The General, Mr. Jakwa added, has finished building 15 large cages with two compartments. Each of the cages is to be stocked with 18 grasscutters - and will be distributed free of charge to 15 primary and secondary schools in the Effutu Traditional area.

This gesture according to his special aide is to inculcate in the students the culture of animal husbandry which could serve as a future vocation for any unfortunate student who may drop out of school.

When ask what motivated the General to undertake these enviable and laudable ventures particularly those outside his native home town of Winneba, Mr Jakwa said, “even though General is a strong Christian he decided to assist the Muslim Zongo communities because he believes that would promote national cohesion and unity, the sine qua non for development. He also adopted Agona East to demonstrate his love and commitment to the speedy integration of our peoples as envisaged by our first president Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah”.

Another motivation Mr. Jakwa added was that; “Gen. Nunoo-Mensah decided to brace this cause for others in privilege positions, particularly those in political authority to emulate and he would love to see presidents of the country task appointees, such as Ministers, Chief Executives, Board Members, Ambassadors and indeed all political appointees to adopt a constituency to help speed-up development.