Santa 81 Marks 50 Years with Emotional Homecoming at Adisadel College

Sunday, 27th September 2026 | Canterbury Hall, Adisadel College, Cape Coast

A Golden Jubilee Homecoming

Fifty years is a long time by any measure, long enough for boys who once walked the corridors of Adisadel College as fresh entrants to return as grandfathers, captains of industry, and statesmen. On Sunday, 27th September 2026, that very journey came full circle when the 1981 Year Group of Adisadel College, affectionately known across the Santaclausian family as Santa 81, gathered at Canterbury Hall to mark the golden jubilee of their admission into the school. It was a day set aside not for grand speeches alone, but for memory, gratitude, and the quiet, powerful act of coming home.

The Year Group’s story with Adisadel College began on 25th September 1981, when its members first arrived on campus as young men, uncertain of what the famed institution would demand of them but eager to belong to its storied tradition. Half a century later, almost to the day, many of them returned to the same grounds, this time not as students under instruction but as elders bearing testimony to what those grounds had shaped them into.

Brief Discussion and Words of Encouragement

The homecoming was organised as a brief discussion and lunch with the staff of Adisadel College, and all Teaching and Non Teaching Staff were warmly invited to take part in the occasion. True to that spirit, the event opened with a period of conversation and reflection in which members of Santa 81 addressed the gathering, sharing candidly from their own life experiences over the past five decades.

Among the distinguished members of Santa 81 present were Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, Daniel Okran, David Hughes Gartey, Francis Agbedenu, who went on to serve the school as its 19th Headmaster, and Kwame Boateng. They were joined by a number of other colleagues from the year group whose names were not individually announced but whose presence, in equal measure, lent weight and warmth to the occasion.

One after the other, the visiting old boys took to the floor to speak, not as distant dignitaries but as men returning to familiar ground. Their accounts spanned the breadth of life after Adisadel, from the discipline of the classroom to the demands of careers in politics, public service, and leadership. Through it all, a common thread ran: the conviction that the values first instilled at Adisadel College, discipline, brotherhood, and excellence, had remained the foundation upon which their later achievements were built. Students in attendance listened closely as the visitors urged them to take their studies seriously, to hold on to the bonds of friendship formed within the school, and to see the Adisadel motto not as a slogan but as a daily standard to live by.

The words were not directed at students alone. Teaching and non teaching staff were similarly encouraged and commended for the often unseen work of shaping young Santaclausians, with the visiting old boys acknowledging that the character formation they themselves once benefited from could not happen without the dedication of the men and women who run the school on a daily basis.

A Landmark Pledge: A 600 Bed Dormitory

The most striking moment of the day’s proceedings came when Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong announced his intention to construct a 600 bed capacity dormitory for Adisadel College, a facility that, once completed, will be named in his honour. The announcement was met with visible excitement among staff and students gathered at Canterbury Hall, many of whom recognised immediately the scale of the difference such a facility could make to a school that, like many older institutions, continues to grapple with the pressures of accommodating a growing student population.

For a year group already marking fifty years of shared history, the pledge stood as more than a generous gesture. It represented a tangible extension of the brotherhood being celebrated that day, a reminder that the bonds formed in 1981 could still, decades later, translate into concrete investment in the future of the school that first brought its members together. Coming exactly on the golden jubilee of Santa 81’s admission, the promised dormitory is likely to be remembered as one of the defining legacies of the year group’s 50th anniversary celebrations, a physical structure that will house generations of Adisadel students yet to come.

Sharing a Meal, Strengthening a Bond

Following the discussions, members of Santa 81 sat down to lunch with the staff of Adisadel College, turning what began as a formal gathering into a warm, communal occasion. Around shared tables, old boys and staff exchanged stories, laughter, and reflections, a scene that captured, perhaps better than any speech could, the essence of what the day was truly about. As the event’s own guiding words put it, the gathering was meant to let attendees “share a meal, strengthen our bonds and celebrate 50 years of friendship and the Santaclausian spirit.”

In keeping with tradition, members of Santa 81 and staff who attended were dressed in the signature Adisco Lacoste attire, a visual thread tying the generations together and reinforcing the sense of belonging to a single, continuous institutional family regardless of the fifty years separating matriculation dates.

School Leadership Receives the Old Boys

The occasion also brought together the current leadership of Adisadel College, who received their distinguished old boys with evident pride. The Headmaster of the school, Mr. Samuel Kofi Agudogo, was present throughout the proceedings, alongside the Headmaster in charge of Domestic Affairs, Mr. Rex Alex Odoom, and the Headmaster in charge of Administration, Mr. Osafo. Their presence underscored the significance the school’s current administration attaches to maintaining strong ties with its old boys’ associations, particularly year groups as accomplished and as generous as Santa 81 has proven itself to be.

For the school’s leadership, occasions such as this serve a dual purpose: honouring the achievements and sacrifices of alumni who have gone on to distinguish themselves in various fields, while also reinforcing to current students that an Adisadel education is not merely preparation for examinations but induction into a lifelong fraternity that continues to invest in those who come after.

A Legacy Fifty Years in the Making

Adisadel College, founded on the principles captured in its enduring motto, “Vel Primus Vel Cum Primis”, meaning either first or among the first, has for over a century produced generations of leaders across Ghana’s political, academic, religious, and corporate landscapes. Homecomings such as that of Santa 81 form an important part of how that legacy is sustained, offering current students living proof that the discipline and camaraderie demanded of them within the school’s walls yield lasting rewards long after graduation.

As the golden jubilee celebrations of Santa 81 drew to a close at Canterbury Hall, what remained was not simply the memory of a well organised event, but the sense of a promise renewed, that the bonds formed among boys in 1981 would continue to shape the fortunes of Adisadel College for years, and indeed generations, to come. With a 600 bed dormitory now on the horizon and a year group visibly proud of what it has built together over fifty years, Santa 81’s homecoming will likely be remembered as one of the more consequential alumni gatherings in the school’s recent history, a fitting tribute to five decades of brotherhood, service, and the unmistakable Santaclausian spirit.