Bayport Savings and Loans has awarded Jeremiah Arthur, the nine-year-old boy who was maimed when a vehicle crashed into his school compound in Takoradi, a scholarship covering his tuition fees from now until he graduates from the University.

Arthur was innocently going about his activities in school when the vehicle driven by a 62-year-old woman, veered off the road in front of his school, skipped over a drain and entered the Garrison Basic School where he was a pupil and hit him. 

The car crashed Jerry against a wall and the driver, who had mistaken the accelerator for the brake, kept the pressure on until Arthur’s left leg came off in the process.

The driver was charged with dangerous driving and negligently causing harm, to which she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a fine of ¢1,800.

She would not respond to allegations that at the time of the accident, she was not licensed to drive but Joy News’ sighted a police report on the accident, which gives details of her documentation.

The vehicle she was driving was registered in 2016, the year of the accident. Her driver’s license was issued on June 1, 2016, a day before the accident. And the insurance of the vehicle was issued on June 2, 2016, the same day she knocked down Jeremiah Arthur.

On Thursday, Hephzi’s Gifts and Berry Bears Kids Party Services organised a birthday party for Jerry in Takoradi and handed him a Hyundai Elantra Taxi.

The Ghana Armed Forces intervened and referred Jerry to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, where he received treatment for close to seven months before being discharged. His remaining leg has since undergone a number of surgeries, the latest occurred in January 2017.

The Head of Brand Marketing and Communications, Jeff Sowah says Bayport was touched when Joy News’ Manasseh Azure Awuni broke the story.

It is the reason they have decided to cater for Arthur’s tuition fees and all academic expenses from his present education level through to university.

The Bayport Scholarship Scheme was designed solely for customers of the company but Mr Sowah says the Company will waive this requirement just for Arthur.

“We are happy to support this young boy. His story is very touching and as such, we hope to make his dreams come to reality,” Mr Sowah said.

About Bayport Scholarship Scheme

In September 2007 Bayport Savings and Loans Ghana established a Scholarship Award Scheme aimed at empowering students that have performed exceptionally well in their studies but are unable to afford further tuition. The scheme aims to identify the most talented scholars across the country by supporting all ten wards of the Teachers Union across all ten regions, thus enabling all learners across the country the chance to win a scholarship.

Each scholarship is awarded to the beneficiary for an eight-year period – four years’ senior high school education and four years’ tertiary education at a university, college or polytechnic.

The scheme has proved so successful since its inception that Bayport Ghana is now awarding these scholarships annually as a permanent investment in the Ghanaian people and their future.

Key requirements are that learners must excel at their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and that the scholarships must be awarded to students from an economically disadvantaged background.

Bayport does not believe in simply investing in projects for its own sake but rather seeks to actively empower Ghanaians in their own self-development and to provide talented economically-disadvantaged individuals with the opportunity to fulfil their hopes, dreams and potential.