Kabala Secondary School 53rd Anniversary – Guest speaker
Kabala, Nov 21, 2013 – On the 53rd anniversary of the Kabala Secondary School (KSS) founding, Mr. Momoh K. Konte, guest speaker and a KSS old boy, delivered the following resounding speech in Kabala:
“Fifty three years ago the founding fathers of the Kabala Secondary School put the foundation stone for the enlightenment of the children of Koinadugu district. The dream of the foundation fathers has lived on but the realization of the dream is far from being achieved. The school continues to suffer from very poor infrastructure and lack of funds to attract trained and qualified teachers. My very special appreciation goes to all those teachers who in the face of all odds have stayed on in the school.
This brings me to the relationship of the alumni of the school with the school. It is incumbent on all of us to give back to the school and the Koinadugu community instead of using them for our personal gains. It is our responsibility to act as role models for the kids and our brothers and sisters in KSS. We should help in the fight to eradicate poverty in Koinadugu. We should love this district selflessly and put her interest above all else, seeking only to see her march towards prosperity. Let us close the gap between the rich and poor; take away the boundary between less fortunate Koinadugans and fortunate Koinadugans. We are all equal in the eyes of God thus must learn to treat one another that way. We should eradicate the narrow parochial vision that we have of our own grandiose and consider ourselves as equal with our compatriots across all social and economic strata. Let us learn to share; practice the art of giving to the needy.
Our school needs our help and we should not fail her. In the present scheme of things we cannot boast of a science laboratory in the school so we cannot dream of ever producing engineers, doctors or scientists. I personally challenge you my fellow alumni to rise to the challenge and change the status quo. I pledge to rehabilitate the structure serving as the science lab to a sound and creditable level. Please join me in this venture by providing the necessary equipment for the lab. As a matter of fact I am presently building a four classroom structure for the school complete with a staff room. The student strength projected for is about four hundred and fifty students. I will be equipping the classes with one hundred and twenty sets of school furniture that will seat about two hundred and forty students. The structure will bear the name of OWEN JONES, a long time teacher of the KSS, who is NOT from our district, an ethnic Creole, who helped shape all of us and above all love our district. Many years ago, this Soldier left the comfort of Freetown, with all the beautiful beaches and great entertainment centre in favor of our poor district. Mr. Owen Jones I salute you.
In recognition of the services of your good self and that of our brother; Mr. Dominic Sogbo Mansaray I hereby announce the establishment of two scholarship funds on my personal behalf and on behalf of the Konte family to the tune of fifteen million leones each. The funds shall bear the names: The Owen Jones fund and the Dominic Sogbo Mansaray fund. The funds shall cater for pupils in both the lower and upper school that is JSS and SSS. I hope our alumni will help sustain these funds. Your contributions will be heartily welcomed. For the sake of transparency the Catholic Mission shall provide administrative cover for the funds.
To you students, parents and guardians I want to challenge you to come on board and help in the fight to turn around the fortunes of our school. Parents have the onus of providing an enabling environment for studies at home whilst not sacrificing discipline. Students nowadays have a propensity to engage far too many frivolous activities. Success comes to those who are willing to burn the midnight oil. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy but all play and no work makes Jack unsuccessful. I can assure you there will be time enough for partying later on in life.
In closing let me thank you for your attention.”
By Mr. Momoh K Konte
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