Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin says he will never stop facilitating development in Sombo, stating that “my umbilical cord is buried here.”

Speaking at the commissioning of a new administration block for Sombo Senior High School on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, the Speaker said neglecting his hometown would be like “breaking the umbilical cord” that ties him to his people.

“A woman whose child cries of hunger while she is distributing funeral food is an irresponsible mother,” he told chiefs, teachers and students. “In other words, every child has the right to eat to its fill, the funeral food prepared by its mother. That is why I am duty-bound to visit Sombo ever so often.”

Mr Bagbin said the new block was built to correct a long-standing wrong. Since its establishment, Sombo SHS had operated without a proper administration block. He described school administrators as the “hubs around which academic work revolves” and said they cannot perform when forced to work “under trees” or in “small, stuffy, dilapidated offices.”

“When school staff sit in offices that do not befit their status, their self-esteem, and by extension that of the children they train, is greatly bruised,” he said.

“When administrators and teachers cannot have comfortable spaces to do their work, they become demotivated.” The Speaker revealed the facility was built with resources he personally mobilised.
"Woe betide you if you don’t maintain it" the former Nadowli-Kaleo legislature charged the school management to maintain the building, warning that he will be back to inspect it.

“Each time I visit the Region, I will be here to inspect the use of this building. And woe betide you if I find cobwebs, cracks, peeled paint, broken furniture,” he warned, drawing laughter from students.

He urged staff to build systems that foster collaboration, teamwork, and a positive school culture to improve student achievement. Chiefs, the Nadowli-Kaleo DCE, and the District Director of Education who attended the ceremony praised the Speaker for his continued support to education in the district.