The Faithful Eight

Mfantsipim School is an all boys educational institution, established in 1876 by the Methodist Church to operate at the secondary level; and dedicated to fostering intellectual, moral and spiritual growth. It's foundation name was Wesleyan High School and the first Headmaster was James Picot, a French scholar, who was only eighteen years on his appointment.

Wesleyan High School had a change of name to Wesleyan Collegiate School before the end of the 19th Century. The name, Mfantsipim, was provided by the Honourable John Mensah-Sarbah, an accomplished lawyer and a member of the 'PIONEER BOYS'. Mfantsipim, he insisted, was to be the "SOUL OF THE PEOPLE". Several heads served the school with unexampled distinction. The Rev'd W. T. Balmer came in 1907 and could be considered as a 'stabiliser'. He met only eight dedicated boys in Mfantsipim with neither a teacher nor a Headmaster, the then headmaster having left for the United Kingdom. He called them the 'faithful eight'. A monument has been erected between the Administration Block and the Assembly Hall to perpetuate their memory. The Rev'd R.A. Lockhart arrived in 1925 and laid a solid foundation for progress. Indeed, he was peerless in his time in terms of performance and achievement. He built classrooms and dormitories on Kwabotwe Hill and finally brought the school to the present site in 1931. He was also the main architect in bringing the Cambridge School Leaving Certificate Examination into the Gold Coast, now Ghana. Dr. F.L. Bartels built on the foundation of the former heads. His main period as a head stretched from 1949 to 1961. He scored an unparalleled success during his time.

There have been many influential products of the school who have served, not only the country, the continent of Africa but also continents outside Africa and many international bodies. Mfantsipim School has trained uncounted number of men of unexampled distinction. In the field of Medicine, Engineering, Education, Architecture, etc, are found a number of great men who owe allegiance to Mfantsipim School.

The training of Mfantsipim boys has been of the form which will enable them become efficient managers in whatever they do and wherever they are. In this sense, there is the need to have a core of committed teachers who will deny themselves some amount of their personal pleasures in order to carry out this difficult task.

The Faithful 8: - Photograph Above
Rev W. T. Balmer & The Faithful Eight
W.E. Saccoom, W. Coleman, J. Intsiful, J. Doomson, R.S. Coleman
W.E.G. Sackney, Rev. W.T. Balmer, B.A., I.W. Anaman and A. Esiam