{"id":15703,"date":"2026-01-06T21:29:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/?p=15703"},"modified":"2026-01-06T21:29:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:29:42","slug":"mahama-shares-story-of-mistaken-arrival-at-commonwealth-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/?p=15703","title":{"rendered":"Mahama Shares Story of ‘Mistaken’ Arrival at Commonwealth Hall”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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President John Mahama has recounted how a twist of fate placed him in the University of Ghana\u2019s Commonwealth Hall, a hall he had been taught to fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at UG\u2019s 77th Annual New Year School and Conference, the President credited that development for forging the expressive leader he is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing an audience that included the university\u2019s Vice-Chancellor, faculty, and students, President Mahama painted a vivid picture of his timid arrival at the university gates as a former sixth-form student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI left secondary school sixth form as a young introvert, not very expressive, didn\u2019t like to make too many friends,\u201d he confessed. His hall placement, however, would become a defining accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that National Service personnel teachers, mostly alumni of Legon, Mensah Sarbah, and Akuafo Halls, had strongly \u201cdemonized\u201d Commonwealth Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey said it was a hall of rascals\u2026 and that if you choose Commonwealth Hall, you would become demonized,\u201d Mahama narrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking this advice, he listed his hall preferences in his university forms in that order: Legon Hall first, Mensah Sarbah second, Akuafo Hall third, and Commonwealth Hall last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApparently, that year,\u201d the President revealed with a smile, \u201cthe University had taken a decision that anybody who chose Commonwealth Hall first would not be given Commonwealth Hall. And all those who chose Commonwealth Hall last would be sent to Commonwealth Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the shy young man found himself assigned to the vibrant and famously boisterous \u201cVandal City.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo believe I can stand before 100,000 people and say whatever I want is what Commonwealth Hall made me into,\u201d President Mahama stated, highlighting his dramatic transformation. \u201cIt made me an extrovert. It made me expressive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He fondly recalled immersing himself in hall traditions, from \u201cponding people\u201d and singing at the Bacchus shrine to participating in the pre-exam \u2018Mfodwo\u2019 demonstrations meant to \u201cboost our courage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahama also shared memories of his first room, A36, which he shared with Boadu Ayeboafo of Graphic Corporation, and later, room J40 with friend Ntow Boahene after his postgraduate studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His remarks were infused with deep affection for his alma mater. \u201cIt always gives me a sense of nostalgia when I walk through the gates of the University of Ghana, an institution that has contributed greatly to molding me into what I\u2019ve become,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Mahama commended the current university administration, led by the Vice-Chancellor, for \u201call they are doing to continue to maintain the reputation of this great institution.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President John Mahama has recounted how a twist of fate placed him in the University of Ghana\u2019s Commonwealth Hall, a hall he had been taught […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15705,"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15703\/revisions\/15705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbmediaonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}