Exclusive: Four Facts You Did Not Know About Tyrone Marhguy
One of the young men at the centre of the enrollment scandal at the Achimota School, Tyrone Marhguy, was finally admitted on Friday morning as a Science student.
The Ghana Report spent the entire morning with a visibly elated Tereo Marhguy, father of Tyrone. Together, we helped to get his son settled, offering to drive him to go get certain items the administration at Achimota required.
Tyrone himself was whisked away to write an examination – a Social Studies paper – right after he was enrolled. According to the older Marhguy, Tyrone was prepared for the paper because even throughout the legal difficulties, the young man was actively teaching himself according to the Ghana Education Service (GES) syllabi.
The teenager was thrown into the public spotlight through no fault of his after authorities at the school where he now is refused to take him in because of his dreadlocks. Both Tyrone and Tereo maintained that their faith as Rastafarians did not permit that they cut off their hair.
Tyrone’s sisters, together with whom he is one of a triplet, also met a similar fate at St. John’s Grammar School.
What ensued after Achimota barred Tyrone is what led his father into our office on Friday morning. But Tereo had more than the story of their legal battle to tell. He also wanted to speak to us about his son and the family.
Here are four exclusive facts we came to know about Tyrone:
- Tyrone plays many musical instruments
The Marhguy family owns a band – The Triplet Roots Band – that was put together by Tereo. His two daughters play different instruments including the organ and the guitar. However, it would appear Tyrone is the star of the band as according to his father, the teenager can play everything from the drums to anything his sisters are able to string together.
2. He likes to read
Apart from his ability to play all the instruments in the band, Tyrone has a voracious appetite for reading. His father admitted to us that Tyrone’s desire to always be caught with some literature has sometimes frustrated him (Tereo). However, despite the numerous times he has admonished his son to cultivate a multidisciplinary personality, Tyrone has not given up his eagerness to read.
It would seem this insatiable need to always read has actually endeared Tyrone to the Ghanaian public as he continues to be praised for his intelligence and ability to articulate his thoughts.
3. Tyrone and Oheneba were not friends until case ensued
One of the unintended consequences of his legal challenge against Achimota has been that Tyrone has made a new friend in Oheneba, the other Rastafarian student Achimota has barred. Contrary to popular public assumptions, the Nkrabea and Marhguy families did not even know each other nor plan for Tyrone and Oheneba to end up in the same school.
According to Tereo, Ras Aswad Nkrabea, father of Oheneba, chanced upon them (Tereo and Tyrone) while dealing with the same issue of Oheneba’s hair at the Achimota School administration a few months ago.
Tyrone, however, has formed a promising friendship with Oheneba throughout their struggles.
4. Tyrone can make wind turbines
Having learned how to engineer simple machines while he was a young technical school student in Germany, Tereo has been able to teach Tyrone how to make a simple domestic wind turbine.
According to the boy’s father, Tyrone is so adept at this skill that he, Tereo, is left surprised. Tereo is hopeful that with time, Ghana and the world will be able to see his son’s engineering talents.
Really?