These were the words of Ghana’s Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on Friday, 30th September 2022, at the investiture and swearing-in of Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor as the first Chancellor of the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) at the institution’s campus in Amakom, Kumasi.
Established in 1954 as Kumasi Technical Institute, KsTU has produced a large pool of technical talent and is recognized as one of Ghana’s foremost technical training institutions, offering a large number of Higher National Diploma, Degree and Post-Graduate programmes in Engineering, Applied Arts, Sciences and Technology as well as Technical and Vocational Training.
“It is a well-deserved honour as all that you have done for mother Ghana in the capacity as the former Board Chairman of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), President of the Ghana Medical Association, Member of Parliament of Manhyia Constituency, Minister of Defence and Acting Minister of Interior establishes that it is entirely appropriate that you have been appointed as the Chancellor of the University.
“Nonetheless, I believe the University could not have picked a worthier leader than you. Your worth of experience, as a Board Chairman of Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organisation (SMIDO) indicates your in-depth knowledge and already established interest in Technical and Vocational Education,” Bawumia noted.
Reiterating Government’s focus on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Vice President Bawumia urged the new Chancellor and all heads of tertiary institutions to continue to make adequate preparations for the extensive call for prioritizing Technical Education in Ghana and beyond, emphasizing that “the Free Senior High School and Free TVET Policies have become permanent features of our educational architecture and their foundations shall be embedded in other reforms in the TVET Education.
“Building on the foundations established by President John Agyekum Kufuor, the government of Nana Akufo-Addo has demonstrated a renewed commitment to technical and vocational education both at the secondary and tertiary levels. The vision of government since 2017 has been to align all TVET institutions in the country, to provide appropriate governance and management structure for a unified national TVET system.”
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He explained that the realignment of the TVET landscape is to provide coordination of the curriculum, training of trainers/facilitators, linkage with industry, entry requirement, training facilities, mode of delivery, assessment, certification system and employability of graduates by synchronizing all existing laws relating to skills training in the country.
“In pursuit of this noble objective, I, on behalf of the President launched the Ghana TVET Service last year at a colourful event at the Accra Technical Training Centre. I am proud to see the many noticeable successes chalked by the management of the Ghana TVET Service.”
Again commending the leadership of the Kumasi Technical University for tapping the “results-driven” Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor as its Chancellor, Bawumia was confident that the institution’s continuous efforts in “building the workforce of the future generation whose work will give full meaning to the words of our country’s motto “Freedom and Justice”, will bring forth the generation that will build a new Ghanaian civilization filled with possibilities…
“I commend the authorities of this University, for the excellent choice of a distinguished person, one who is also happily a firm believer in academic freedom, and I am hopeful that the University will definitely feel the added benefit of your rich experiences.”
The ceremony was attended by a wide variety of friends, colleagues and family of the new Chancellor including Former Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kufuor; Nana Asafo Boakye Agyemang Bonsu, Asafohene, who represented His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene; Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye, former Speaker of Parliament; the Majority Leader, Hon Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; the Minister for Education, Hon Yaw Osei Adutwum; Most Rev Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, Anglican Archbishop of the internal province of Ghana in the Church of the Province of West Africa (CPWA), and Most. Rev. Prof. Daniel Yinka Sarfo, immediate past Archbishop.
