• Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences & The J.B. Danquah Memorial Lecture, Series 4 (Volume IX, 1971)

    Proceedings, 1971. This issue contains the third series of the J.B. Danquah Memorial Lectures delivered by Kwabena Bentsi-Enchill in 1971.

    Contents

    Address by Hon. Mr. J. Kwesi Lamptey, Minister of Defence and Acting Prime Minister, on the Eleventh Anniversary Dinner of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences held on 21st November 1970

    Address by Mr Justice Nii Amaa Ollennu, President of the Academy, at the Eleventh Anniversary Dinner of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences held on 21st November 1970

    Institutional Challenges of our Time (4th J.B. Danquah Memorial Lectures) – Kwabena Bentsi-Enchill

    Legal Education and National Development – Nii Amaa Ollennu

    Some Aspects of Religious Change in Africa – C.G. Baeta

    The Role of Mass Communication in the Formation of Public Opinion – C.E. Fiscian

    Radio and T.V. in National Development – K.B. Dickson

    Computers and the Future of Man – N.R. Smith

    The Ghanaian Woman’s Role in Public Life – Gloria Nikoi

    Problems of Social Status and Education for the Ghanaian Woman – Susan de Graft-Johnson

    The Ghanaian Woman’s Responsibilities in the Home – Florence A. Dolphyne

  • Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (Volume V, 1967)

    Proceedings, 1967.

    Contents

    A Message from His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Seventh Anniversary Dinner Address – Professor E.A. Boateng

    Towards a National Science Policy – Professor D.A. Bekoe

    The New University of Science and Technology in Developing Countries – Professor Kankam Twum-Barima

    The Role of the Humanities in a Developing Country – Professor A.A. Kwapong

    International Co-operation in Hydrology – Professor A. Volker

    The Structure of Some Mitragyna Alkaloids – Professor A.N. Tackie

    Oviposition and Breeding Habits of the Simulidae in Relation to Control Practices – Dr. Leticia E. Obeng

  • Who Owns the Land and Who Rules the Land?

    Ghana is undergoing her fourth experiment in Constitutional Rule − the 4th Republic. She was the first Black African country south of the Sahara to gain her political independence in 1957 but economic independence has eluded her till now. Her development is at a snail-pace at best.

    According to the author, there are certain fundamental bottlenecks in the country’s governance system which make it difficult for her to realize her economic potential. The author compares Ghana’s governance system to Singapore which gained political independence around the same time as Ghana but has successfully transformed from Third World to First World economic status in 30 years and asks why the difference. The author calls for a national debate on the country’s governance system that will lead to a total review of the 1992 Constitution. The following are some of the key issues he calls the nation’s attention to:

     

    • A Feudal Land Tenure System whereby more than 90% of the land mass of Ghana is vested in the Chieftaincy institution as Stool Lands and the remaining 10% vested in the President on behalf of the people of Ghana as Public Lands. A system which greatly impedes development and benefits only a privileged few and yet there are no Land Reforms
    • The Legacy of the Colonial Indirect Rule leading to a “bifurcated state” in which traditional authority runs parallel to civilian political authority
    • An Ineffective Decentralization System which excludes the traditional leaders and refuses to allow the people to elect their own District Chief Executives whom they can hold accountable
    • An Adversarial Political System in which the two main political parties have indulged in violence since independence and thus refuse to reach consensus for national development
    • The Short Tenure of the Executive and Legislature which does not promote long term planning and execution for meaningful development
    • An expensive electoral system which engenders corruption and prevents well-meaning and qualified candidates from offering themselves for governance
    • The Lack of a National Agenda for development and dependence on party manifestoes thus ignoring the Directive Principles of State Policy. Development is thus not progressive but disjointed and depends on which party is in power
    • A Council of State which is merely advisory and has no power to serve as a check on the Executive
    • A National Mindset of Dependency Syndrome and Entitlement Mentality which has resulted in lack of effective mobilization of the populace by the political and traditional leadership. A national psyche that does not promote self-reliance and the can-do spirit
    • A Governance System which tries to copy Westminster and American systems instead of a home-grown system which suits our situation and promotes development
    • An Educational System that fails to build problem-solving abilities and patriotism into the youth and fails to make them proud of being Africans
    • A Very Strong Religious Atmosphere which feeds on superstition and does not enable the teeming members to transform their mindset and focus on teachings which promote hard work, wealth creation and prosperity
  • The Children of House No. D13 South Suntresu Kumasi: An Ahwoi & Adu-Gyamfi Siblings’ Collective Biography

    *Available from 15 June 2022

    To describe The Children of House No. D13, South Suntresu, Kumasi, as an intriguing project is an understatement. A collective biography of eight siblings was always going to be a daunting challenge, even if each person told their own story and got it together in one volume. To do it in a coordinated combination of first and third person “voices” would appear to be a bit implausible. To actually achieve the purpose and turn it from a project into an enthralling reading experience deserves all the plaudits this book is likely to gather.

    This book is a collection of life stories of the eight children of Madam Maye Charlotte Hudson, also known as Esi Tutuwa but known to some people as Esi Nkwagye and to the people of South Suntresu, Kumasi as Mrs. Ahwoi. The ‘Ahwois” principally is the collective name of three brothers – Ato, Kwesi and Kwamena – who have played prominent roles in Ghana’s recent history, but the siblings also include five girls, Ama, Adoma, Efua, Naana and Sister Aggie, who also played their part in this thrilling story in their own unique ways.

    For such a collective recall of personal histories to work, a principal requirement is a willingness of all the parties involved to treat the project seriously; of equal importance is the need to treat everyone’s personal history as important, which is what this book has succeeded in doing. It would be right to describe it as an exercise in literary democracy!

    It is not every book project that produces a good book, but this book has done so because at the heart of the project is a good story. And at the heart of that good story is human progress against the odds capsuled in the life of these eight individuals.

    These are the dramatis personae in order of appearance – from the womb – Ato Ahwoi, Kwesi Ahwoi, Mrs. Ama Twum, Kwamena Ahwoi, Mrs. Ama Adoma Bartels-Kodwo, Mrs. Efua Bram-Larbi, Theodora Naana Adu Gyamfi and Mrs. Agnes Appiagyei-Dankah. Theodora Naana Adu-Gyamfi passed away at the age of 28 and so her role ends early except in passing references. However, it is worth recalling that before she died, and in an act that exemplifies the major theme of this book, Naana secretely transferred all the money in her own bank account into that of her six year old niece, Abena Tutuwa Ahwoi, the daughter of her brother, Kwamena.

    The structure of the narrative, which makes it possible to flow, is simply to follow the fortunes of these siblings sequentially in turn through the main phases of their development. The person whose presence permeates the story is the matriarch – Mrs. Ahwoi, nee Maye Charlotte Hudson.

    The book achieves the purpose of showing the “remarkable togetherness and the mutual support system that enabled the children of House No. D13, South Suntresu, Kumasi, to overcome the many hurdles along their individual paths in life as being due to their mother, Madam Maye Charlotte Hudson (Mrs. Ahwoi). Indeed, the matriarch herself is effectively the ninth subject of the biography of the eight children” as Honourable Kwame Preprah states in the Foreword.

    Nana Kwasi Gyan Apenteng

    Consultant in Communication, Media and Culture

    Former Chairman, National Media Commission (NMC)

    Former President, Ghana Association of Writers (GAW)

  • Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (Volume IV, 1966)

    Proceedings, 1966.

    Contents

    Making the Community Healthy – Dr. Fred T. Sai

    Medical Education in a Developing Country (Ghana) – Professor C.O. Easmon

    Industrial and Technological Possibilities in Ghana during the Seven-Year Development Plan Period – Mr. J.E. Cudjoe

    Some Ideas on the Organization of Scientific Research in Developing Countries – Professor A. Raid Tourky

    Towards Comprehensive Water Resource Development in Ghana – Mr. E. Lartey

    And What About Religion? – Rev. Professor C.G. Baeta

    Politics and Education – Mr. Geoffrey H.C. Bing

    Biochemistry in Hungary – Professor Bruno F. Straub

    Progress of Science in Uzbekistan – Dr. Ubai Arifovich Arifov

  • Revolution and Democracy in Ghana: The Politics of Jerry Rawlings

    Flight-Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, who passed away on 12 November 2020, aged 73 years, dramatically appeared on Ghana’s political scene 40 years earlier. In May 1979, Rawlings was briefly jailed following an unsuccessful coup attempt. Rawlings and his comrades were revolted by Ghana’s corruption and economic decline at the hands of its ruling generals. A few weeks later, on 4 June 1979, Rawlings was released from prison by a group of disgruntled soldiers and took power following a successful coup d’état. Following a brief, but turbulent, few months in power, Rawlings’ Armed Forces Revolutionary Council handed over to an elected government in September 1979. Twenty-seven months later, on 31 December 1981, he was back in power, again by coup d’état. This time it was not a brief stay in the hot seat: Rawlings, leader of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), comprising three civilians and three armed forces personnel, remained in power for more than a decade. Seeking to justify the coup, Rawlings claimed that the PNDC was a necessary response to Ghana’s political and economic crisis. In January 1993, democracy returned to Ghana. Jerry Rawlings was popularly elected president twice, eventually standing down in January 2001, as the 1992 constitution demanded. Beginning his political career as a military figure with revolutionary aspirations, Rawlings ended it as a twice democratically-elected civilian president.

    These are the brief facts about the political career of Flight-Lieutenant, later President, Jerry Rawlings. More than three years after his passing, Rawlings remains a pivotal, absolutely central, figure in Ghana. His enduring influence in Ghana may be second only to that of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. On the other hand, there is no more controversial figure in Ghana’s political and economic history than Rawlings. More than two decades after he left political office, nothing divides Ghanaians more than their opinions regarding him. This book seeks to explain how and why Rawlings and the PNDC progressed from an undemocratic military-based regime to laying the foundations for Ghana’s three decades of multi-party democracy. Was Rawlings a patriot who believed passionately in Ghana and did all he could to make the country succeed? Or was he a wrecker who wanted to bring the post-colonial edifice tumbling down in a misguided attempt at revolution? The aim of this book is to enable the reader to draw their own conclusions on these questions.

     

     

  • An Appraisal of Ghana’s Public Procurement Regime

    It is a “must-have” book that captures almost every relevant thematic area of Ghana’s public
    procurement regime under the current dispensation.
    The book aims to serve as a foundational guide for readers seeking to understand the fundamental principles, processes, and regulations governing public procurement in the country. The detailed exposition of the historical antecedent helps any student of procurement to understand how far Ghana has come as a country.
    The materials in the book are well-organized, presenting a clear and logical flow of information.
    It starts with an introduction to the concept of public procurement, followed by a detailed appraisal of Ghana’s specific regulatory framework.
    It is noteworthy that not many authors make an effort to trace history in this way, which makes the book a special reference for experts, practitioners, and students studying procurement.
    The incorporation of pertinent case studies augments the book’s relevance by helping readers to comprehend authentic instances of the obstacles and achievements in Ghana’s public procurement system.
    For readers who may not be familiar with the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), as amended, a thorough analysis and appraisal of the Act has been provided.
    The legislative and regulatory structure governing public procurement in Ghana was reduced to the level of a university student.
    In Ghana, most lawyers and judges still grapple with the concept of procurement and the laws governing public procurement. The authors’ ability to break down the Act and the associated statutes in the way they did is highly advantageous to the reader.
    The authors took time to discuss the object of Act 663 as amended and expounded the
    concept of value-for-money in a very simplified manner.
    Therefore, we highly recommend the book to procurement students at all levels, lawyers, judges, Heads of Entities, Entity Tender Committee members, Directors of both public and private companies, and most importantly, procurement practitioners and decision-makers in Ghana.
    This book will come in handy for any professional in the industry.

  • The Mumfordians: Memories of a Sea Boy

    In one beautiful swoop, this book takes you to the nostalgic past and the aspirational future of an African nation still in the throes of defining self-determination. With the brilliance of powerful recalls, it dissects the socio-cultural as well as the political. It is one man’s journey from an idyllic African fishing village, through his self-improvement to become the executive secretary of a Pan-African body travelling several capitals of the world in the service of his employer.

    It is also a book about people − their history, their dreams and the ills they seem unable to decidedly confront. But what makes The Mumfordians a keepsake is its richness in national promise and communal nostalgia.

  • Investigative Journalism in Africa: A Practical Manual

    “Few African investigative journalists I know are as invested in principled investigative journalism as Manasseh Azure Awuni. That trait has always come through in his exhaustive, impactful stories (some of which have featured in GIJN’s monthly and annual picks of top investigative stories from Africa). It is also abundantly evident in his new book, Investigative Journalism in Africa: A Practical Manual. In his own distinct, matter-of-fact style, Manasseh crafts a book that borrows from his own experiences to map a path for journalists who want to follow in his footsteps or learn from his unique experiences. By doing so, Manasseh has laid a crucial brick towards building African literature on investigative journalism on the continent. Most of the watchdog journalism study materials available in Africa come from the West. Manasseh’s effort is a commendable and timely step in the right direction, which I hope other investigative journalists across Africa can aspire to emulate.” − Benon Herbert Oluka, Africa Editor of Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)

    “Manasseh Azure Awuni makes investigative journalism so practical in this manual. He dissects the thorny and hidden issues that you would not get in your average classroom. This book crafts the very basis of my intellectual thinking of what investigative journalism should be about. It is a must- read for every student who wants to achieve greater heights in investigative journalism across the world.” − Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Award-winning Ghanaian investigative journalist

    “This book is rich with practical and theoretical knowledge from one of the foremost investigative journalists in Africa. An invaluable resource for both professionals and students.” − Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo, former Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana

    “Students with a dream to pursue public interest and accountability journalism will find exceptional value here, but practitioners will do themselves a world of great value if they also keep a copy on the reading table.” − Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher of Premium Times, Nigeria  

  • Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651)

    The Six  Hundred and fifty-first ACT of the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana is an Act to amend and consolidate the laws relating to labour, employers, trade unions and industrial relations; to establish a National Labour Commission and to provide for matters related to these.

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