• Red Oak Heroes Series: Theodosia Okoh

    *Available from 15 August 2023

    Age Range: 10 – 14 years

    When it was advertised in the dailies for the flag to be designed for Ghana, Theodosia Okoh took the opportunity to show her creativity. Her beautiful and thoughtful design replaced the Union Jack which Ghana was using as a flag even after independence. To every colour that is in the flag, she gave a meaning. She was not just an artist but a teacher who thought teaching was a duty to God and thus, did it for the good of all.
    In the story about the woman who designed Ghana’s most popular symbol, you will discover that the Ghana flag, like any other piece of art, can have several intriguing interpretations.

  • Decentralisation Reforms in Ghana: The Experiences of the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic

    What were the decentralisation reforms? What did they consist of? What were their origins? Who authorised them? What were their outcomes? What Impact have they had on the local governance and decentralisation landscape In Ghana?

    The answer to the first question is that they were new initiatives and innovations designed to accelerate the pace of and improve upon decentralisation implementation in Ghana.

    The answer to the second question is that they consisted of a National Decentralisation Policy Framework and a National Decentralisation Action Plan I (2010-2014) and II (2015-2019), an Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCC), an expansion in the number of districts, a consolidated Local Governance Act, a re-branding of the Office of the Head of Local Government Service, the operationalisation of the Local Government Service and the introduction of a system of Inter-Service/Inter-Sectoral Collaboration and Cooperation. It also covered the enactment of National Development Planning (System) Regulations and a Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, the introduction of a Regional Integrated Budget System (RIBS) and blueprints for an Inter-Governmental Fiscal Framework (IGFF) and an Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfer (IGFT) system.

    The answer to the third question is that the reforms were traceable to the 2008 manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party which won the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of 2008 and 2012 and therefore formed the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic.

    The answer to the fourth question is that the reforms were authorised by Presidents John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama who successively were Presidents of the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic.

    The answer to the fifth question about outcomes is the new structures, procedures and processes for decentralisation implementation, the improved quality of human resources in the local government sector, and the more efficient systems of checks and balances in the sector.

    The answer to the sixth question lies in the District Assemblies (MMDAs), the better service delivery by the Metropolitan, Municipal and of service delivery, the renewed interest in local governance by the citizenry and the claro Si rate reforms such as the elections of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDC Wand making the MMDAs partisan.

    These and answers to other questions posed by the reforms are answered in this book by the two people who should know, namely, the authors Professor Kwamena Ahwoi and Dr Callistus Mahama.

    Professor Kwamena Ahwoi is the longest-serving Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in Ghana (1988-2000). He was the Chairman of the High Level Strategic Task Force that produced the Decentralisation Policy Frameworks and Action Plans, He chaired the Legislative Review Task Force that resulted in the enactment of the Local Governance Act, 2016, Act 936 and was consultant to both the Ministry of Local Government and the IMCC during the period.

    Dr. Callistus Mahama was a member of the High Level Strategic Task Force, a member of the Legislative Review Task Force, the Executive Coordinator of the IMCC and the Head of the Local Government Service during the period.

    The two authors therefore write from a position of knowledge and experience and this is reflected in the contents of the book.

  • Women’s Leadership in Post-Conflict Liberia: My Journey (Hardcover)

    The realities of trying to institutionalize reform in Liberia after 14 years of civil war comes alive in this book, particularly given the capacity constraints the author had to work with – what she describes as the “no money syndrome” coupled with the human and institutional capacity challenges she faced after a prolonged absence of almost 25 years working and living in the Diaspora.

    This book is a must-read for all women (and men) who need guidance and mentoring on the challenges, consequences and sacrifices required to stand up for one’s convictions.

  • Pilgrims of the Night: Development Challenges and Opportunities in Africa (Hardcover)

    Africa’s development process has and continues to be like walking through a thick forest made obscure by institutional weakness, social challenges and capacity gaps. Sustainable development should be in the hands of Africans and outside support as a critical compliment. Getting the navigation right is paramount in the face of emerging challenges so well covered in this undoubtedly important and highly recommended book. The authors argue that Africa must control its own precious natural resources, reform its government institutions, modify its trade and economic relations and form new relationships with emerging economies in order to improve conditions on the continent.

  • Ghana: An African Portrait Revisited (Photo Book, Hardcover)

    Ghana: An African Portrait by the American photographer Paul Strand was published in 1963 at the request of Kwame Nkrumah. It became a classic but is now out of print. Over 40 years after that landmark work, and coinciding with the 50th anniversary celebrations of Ghana’s independence, the country is documented again as it enters the 21st century.

    With more than 150 photographs, this book presents Ghana at a historic moment in time remembering its past and tradition, while looking ahead to a bright future. Six photographers with six points of view of working present a unique portrait of the country, through these photographs. From Accra to Bolatanga, and Elmina to Aflao, these are images of a country that is changing yet still retains much of its traditional character.

    There are photographs of bead makers, wood carvers, kente weavers and coffin makers; and of Ghana’s unique fishing industry, its historic slave forts, outdoor markets, and the diverse religious community. And at the same time, a country poised to compete in world markets is seen through Accra’s rising skyline buildings and Tema’s modern port facilities. Abena Busia’s essay provides a capsule history of the country.

  • Frantz Fanon (Panaf Great Lives)

    Required reading for all interested in the Algerian Revolution, and in Fanon’s brief but highly productive contribution. A close study is made of the relationship between Fanon’s ideological development and the content and impact of his political philosophy.

  • Truth Without Reconciliation: A Human Rights History of Ghana (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights)

    Although truth and reconciliation commissions are supposed to generate consensus and unity in the aftermath of political violence, Abena Ampofoa Asare identifies cacophony as the most valuable and overlooked consequence of this process in Ghana. By collecting and preserving the voices of a diverse cross-section of the national population, Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission (2001-2004) created an unprecedented public archive of postindependence political history as told by the self-described victims of human rights abuse.
    The collected voices in the archives of this truth commission expand Ghana’s historic record by describing the state violence that seeped into the crevices of everyday life, shaping how individuals and communities survived the decades after national independence. Here, victims of violence marshal the language of international human rights to assert themselves as experts who both mourn the past and articulate the path toward future justice.
    There are, however, risks as well as rewards for dredging up this survivors’ history of Ghana. The revealed truth of Ghana’s human rights history is the variety and dissonance of suffering voices. These conflicting and conflicted records make it plain that the pursuit of political reconciliation requires, first, reckoning with a violence that is not past but is preserved in national institutions and individual lives. By exploring the challenge of human rights testimony as both history and politics, Asare charts a new course in evaluating the success and failures of truth and reconciliation commissions in Africa and around the world.

  • Hijacked: 1000 Days’ Harrowing Experience in the Hands of Somali Pirates

    Six months into a 10-month contract with Azal Shipping & Cargo, LLC, Dubai, on March 29, 2010, Jewel Ahiable and 23 other crew members aboard MV Iceberg 1 were hijacked by Somali pirates and held captive for 1000 days. The vessel ran aground. Food, water, medical supplies—all ran out. A crew member lost his life and another went missing. All attempts to get a ransom failed the captors. But their brute determination to amass fortune deafened their ears to the cry of innocent humans and the poor.

    HIJACKED! recounts the torturous ordeal and near-death experiences during the captivity until the intervention of the Puntland Maritime Police Force secured their release on December 23, 2012.

    It is the story of one of the longest held piracy victims. It is the story of piracy victims abandoned by their employer, respective countries and the world community. It is the story of the miraculous intervention of Divinity in the affairs of hopeless men.

  • Living through Courtesy

    Age Range: 9 years and above

    Living Through Courtesy teaches young readers how to be courteous in their everyday lives and how effective it can be. In twenty-six lessons, readers learn the importance of making contact with others pleasant and peaceful. This books encourages you to look at yourself in relation to others and to discuss topics and problems concerning courtesy frankly and openly with your parents, friends, teachers and public officers in your country.

    Everyday you are in contact with others in one way or another, in one place or another. It is important to know how to make these contacts pleasant and peaceful.Your best of doing this is through the practice of Courtesy.

  • Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (2013 – Education for National Development)

    Proceedings, Founder’s Week Celebrations, 2013

    Contents

    Foreword — Professor Takyiwaa Manuh

    Presidential Address: Education in the Age of Rapid Technological Advancement — Professor Francis K.A. Allotey

    Basic Education in a Changing World: Rethinking the Role of Stakeholders in Ghana — Dr. Christiana Amoako-Nuama

    The Quality and Inclusivity of Basic Education across Ghana’s three Northern Regions: Assessing Learning Effectiveness and Efficiency towards the Post 2015 Era — Dr. Leslie Casely-Hayford

    Reviewing Secondary, Technical Education and Skills Training in Ghana — Dr. George Afeti

    Skills Diversification to meet Current and Future Labour Market Opportunities in Ghana — Professor G.K.S. Aflakpui

    Higher Education beyond the Labour Market — Professor Helen Lauer

    Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lecture: Knowledge and Innovation for Agricultural Development — Professor Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere

  • Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (Volume XIV, 1976)

    Proceedings, 1976.

    Contents

    Address by Dr. R.K.A. Gardiner, Commissioner for Economic Planning, on the occasion of the 16th Anniversary Dinner of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Address by the President of the Academy, Professor E.A. Boateng on the occasion of the 16th Anniversary Dinner of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences held on November 28, 1975

    The Two Faces of Development – Professor E.A. Boateng

    The Energy Problem in Perspective – Professor D.A. Bekoe

    The Black Pod Disease of Cacao – Observations on the Parasite – Professor G.C. Clark

    On the Growth of Man – Professor S. Ofosu-Amaah

    Physical Sources of Energy – Dr. A.N. May

    Chemical Sources of Energy – Dr. W. R. Philips

    Biological Sources of Energy – Professor E. Laing

    Nuclear Pollution – Dr. B.W. Garbrah

    Biological Pollution – Professor S. Ofosu-Amaah

    The Oil Crisis and its Impact on Ghana – Dr. Kobena G. Erbynn

    The Economics of Energy in Ghana – Dr. Assibi O. Abudu

    The Political Aspect of Energy for Development – Mr. W.S. Parker

  • Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences & The J.B. Danquah Memorial Lecture, Series 2 (Volume VII, 1969)

    Proceedings, 1969. This issue contains the second series of the J.B. Danquah Memorial Lectures delivered by C. A. Ackah in 1969.

    Contents

    Drugs and Our Society – Professor A.N. Tackie

    Science and Religion – Professor J. Yanney Ewusie

    Some Fundamentals in the Political Scene – C.A. Ackah (The J.B. Danquah Memorial Lecture, Series 2)

    A Systems Approach to the Provision of Urban Facilities – E.D. Ehrenkrantz

    Urban Planning – S.B. Amissah

    Administration, Economics and Finance of Urban Planning – J.W.S. de Graft-Johnson

    Housing – J. Owusu Addo

    Communications – A.L. Bright-Davies

    Urban Transportation – Mr. E. Lartey

    Electric Power Supply – G.K. Homenoo

    Problems of Urban Water Supply – C.K. Annan

    Problems of Environmental Sanitation – H. Noye-Nortey

  • Proceedings of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (Volume XV, 1977)

    Proceedings, 1977.

    Contents

    Address by Major-General F.W.K. Akuffo, Chief of Defence Staff on the occasion of the 17th Anniversary Dinner of the Academy of Arts and Sciences held on November 27, 1976

    Address by the President of the Academy, E.A. Boateng on the occasion of the 17th Anniversary Dinner of the Academy of Arts and Sciences held on November 27, 1976

    Human Settlements and the Environment – Professor E.A. Boateng

    A Strategy to Accelerate the Development of the Rural Areas of Ghana – Professor J. Yanney-Ewusie

    Philosophy and our Culture – Kwasi Wiredu

    Cocoa Production in Ghana: some present problems and future strategies – E.J.A. Asomaning

    The Impact of Demographic Changes on Ghanaian cities, towns and villages – S.K. Gaisie

    Human Settlement Planning in Ghana – P. Austin Tetteh

    The Urban Worker in the Context of the Journey to and from Work – F.A. Ablorh

    Health and Slums – Mr. L.K.A. Derban

    Traffic Within Our Cities – Mr. E. Lartey

    Social Problems – David Acquah

    Economic Activities in the Rural and Urban Cities of Ghana – K.B. Dickson

  • Africa in Search of Prosperity

    Africa is a major player in global economic engineering. It is also a great development partner, a vital player in the economies of Asian nations who are eager to explore long awaited market possibilities that it presents by forging alliances with hi-growth emerging economies in Africa.

    This new economic order is shifting the developmental narratives as Africa’s rich potential market has become more attractive with a population of nearly one billion.

    The author of this book is a long time transnational business executive. Although he indicates a level of despair at times, he is quite hopeful of Africa’s prospects. His lived experience as an economist and policy advisor to Presidents, is reflected in these essays that address developmental issues from the colonial economy with those of the new states.

    In this, the author uses the experience of Ghana as an example and a site for an analytical perspective. He examines and writes about the issues of natural resource exploration, the oil economy, human skills and also looks at the vital factors of education, religion and the attendant attitudes to development.

  • Luxury Hotels in Ghana

    This book showcases the huge progress made by Ghana in the development of its hospitality infrastructure especially during the past fifteen to twenty years.

    Movenpick Hotel was one of the new five-star hotels to be established during this period. Not long after the completion of the Movenpick Hotel came Kempinski Hotel. These two hotels have taken the hospitality business in Ghana to a higher notch.

    Other hotels featured in this book provide a good level of competition to the above two prime hotels in the City of Accra.

    Best Western Plus Atlantic Hotel located in the Western Regional Capital of Takoradi also known as the Oil City of Ghana is a very impressive hotel to lodge in. The Author experienced a five-day stay in this hotel during a corporate assignment to Takoradi. The hotel provides excellent services and great culinary menus. The Author would always recommend their delicious fufu and light soup to anyone visiting the hotel.

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