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| The children at the Orphanage |
Since U TV and Peacefmonline.com crew launched an undercover investigation into the plight of some deprived children at Otoase, a suburb of Adoagyiri-Nsawam in the Eastern Region, there have been several plots to thwart the activities of the crew.
Quite a number of stories have been fabricated regarding the story where over 60 children at Otoase have been fighting for basic necessities of life for years, to survive.
Some allegations were leveled against the proprietor of the Eye of the Lord Orphanage. The adversaries claimed that the proprietor had been on a mission to humiliate the indwellers of the community while others claimed the story was nothing but a deception to gain favour from the general public.
Today, the crew clarifies the issues and brings to the forefront some demands regarding the establishment of the orphanage, as well as the plots against the progress of the project.
Origin of “Eye of the Lord Orphanage”
Eye of the Lord Orphanage began as a day care center, managed by Mr. Samuel Kwapong Darko and wife Mary Kwayisibea. The day care center was set up to assist underprivileged children at Otoase.
Mr. Samuel Kwapong, a blind man and graduate from the Akropong School for the blind, did not see his disability as a challenge but rather an opportunity to help the needy and the poor in his locality.
That was his motivation behind the establishment of the day care center, which later became an orphanage.
Samuel Kwapong consulted with the Queen mother for a facility to accommodate and help children at Otoase.
For humanitarian purposes, the queen donated a building for the project but later reclaim her facility after realizing that the day care was not registered in her name, according to Mr. Kwapong.
This therefore led to a state of conflict between the two persons, with the queen mother eager to have a lion’s share of the project.
She later ejected the proprietor and the children but an ambitious Kwapong, keenly interested in catering for the children in the community did not give up.
He therefore channeled his efforts towards helping orphans and children whose parents cannot afford to cater for them, and so acquired his family house to continue the project.
This is how a day care center which had 10 children turned into housing for over 60 orphans and children from very poor background.
Now, setting the records straight, the story is not a hoax neither is the orphanage a scam!
The Crux of the Matter
The reason why lies have been peddled around indicating that the proprietor of the orphanage had been mobilizing children from the community to gain support from the public is because the queen mother of the area, Nana Aboamah II, still seeks her share.
Nana Aboamah II is the force behind the fabricated stories and misconceptions regarding the orphanage.
Demands by the Queen mother
She made her actions very obvious when U TV crew met with her in the company of some officials believed to have come from the Social Welfare Department of the locality.
The queen mother was caught on our hidden cameras professing to a delegation from the Social Welfare and the crew that the orphanage has “to be an agreement company” between her and the blind man, Mr. Samuel Kwapong.
“So, I will make sure that on my side, you (the blind man - proprietor of the orphanage - will get 40% out of it. Then, we develop from there” she said in the video and further stated that “currently, nothing is on the ground. So, let's start it small [small]. So, when the donations started coming in, I said Kofi (the blind man); now people are complaining. The things are meant for the children. Use it for the children. For now, I don't need the money. For now, the things coming in are not many. Use some to cater for the children and the rest for yourself; your wife will also eat.
Following up on the issue after several people across the nation sent in their donations, the queen mother has been insisting and "begging" persistently for 60% of the donations or else would frustrate the proprietor.
She wants 60 percent of what donors offer to the orphanage, managed by the visually impaired man and till a consensus is reached between her and him (blind man), she would keep frustrating his efforts.
"I need records because VAT (Valued Added Tax) officials have given me a certificate. They will come and check it..." she stated.
She further requested for a "durbar" to be held to somehow "commission" the donations before the proprietor of the orphanage can operate.
“I said he is bringing something into this community. There are leaders in the community and they're complaining. So, I appoint people because I am not here all the time…It's a good idea that you're bringing donations but it will be something like a durbar.”
Does it mean that every donation to a family in the community deserves a durbar and part payment to the queen mother before the family can access their goods?
Is the Orphanage Story True or Untrue?
The queen mother admitted to the truth that what Mr. Kwapong and his wife are doing for the children is a genuine display of concern for the underprivileged in the society.
Meanwhile, this is the same queen mother who claims the orphanage story is fabricated to “humiliate her community.”
Peacefmonline.com on Friday, October 24, 2014 interviewed the Member of Parliament in the community, Samuel Ayeh-Paye and he accused the blind man of deceiving the public, hence creating an impression that the orphanage never existed.
“When we have philanthropists and NGOs donate items to the orphanage, he doesn’t give the items to them...so the queen mother decided to set up a Committee to manage the orphanage. This guy said that he cannot work with the Committee.
Whenever "he gets to know that people are coming to donate, then, he will go and pick the children and then gather them and say that; this is an orphanage. Then they will come and present items to them,” and he will give the children “some of the items and take the rest away," he stated categorically.
Yet, in the latest development, the queen mother who was filmed secretly, attested to the fact that the orphanage is indeed the brainchild of Mr. Samuel Kwapong and had never been a fraudulent scheme.
She however took the crew around; proudly indicating some lands that she would readily lease for the project but only if she had her half.
This is to confirm that the Eye of the Lord Orphanage has never been a ploy to extort money or donations from people.
Watch the video below;
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana/ email address: ameyawpeacefmonline@gmail.com
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