The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Rt Reverend Prof. Emmanuel Martey, has indicated that the church has made significant contributions to the socio-economic development of the country.

He mentioned discipline as one of the values the Presbyterian Church had instilled in its members who were contributing to the accelerated development of the country in various sectors.

“Presbyterians insisted on training to get people to do the right thing, using praise and sanctions as and when appropriate,” the moderator emphasised.

He said the Clergy, teachers, and elders of the church were meticulous in the enforcement of the church’s code of conduct meant to discipline the mind and actions of members.

This was contained in a goodwill message read on his behalf by the Dangme–Tongu Presbytery Chairman, Reverend Fred Nuer Appertey, at the 110th-anniversary celebration of the Bana Hill Senior Boys School durbar at Odumase Krobo in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region. It was on the theme: “Our Heritage.”

Bana Hill

The Bana Hill School was established in 1903 at Odumase–Krobo by the Basel Missionaries. It was later moved to Bana Hill in 1905 after a new site was acquired from one Baah Narh by the missionaries under the leadership of Reverend Gotlieb Josenhanse. The school then became Bana, an acronym for the land owner, Baah Narh.

The school was later closed down in 1975. However, in 1984, the Dangme–Tongu Presbytery of the PCG re-established the school as Bana Hill Technical Vocational Institute which was also closed down in the late 1990s.

In 1997, the school was reopened through the efforts of some old students with some support from the Protestant Church of Austria.

Currently, it is being used as the Lay Training Centre for the PCG. There is a mutual agreement between the PCG and the old boys of the school to make Bana Hill one of the campuses of the Presbyterian University at Abetifi.

Appeal

The President of the Old Boys Association, Mr. Seth Abadji, said there was the need to redeem the image of the school and appealed to both members of the association and the PCG to contribute towards the school’s development.

The Lower Manya-Krobo Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Jacob Frederick Kwame Acolatse, who is also an old boy, said the products of the school had contributed immensely to the development of the country.

According to a member of the 1939 year group, Lawyer Emmanuel Albert Accam, “You were taught how to use your brain, your hands, and your 10 fingers. And I tell you, we never regretted in life because of the Presbyterian training we went through.”