The Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) has held a handing over ceremony for its national executives at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

The national executive body which rotates around the various public universities has moved from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to UCC.

The new executives are: Mr. Kwabena Antwi-Konadu-President; Mrs. Audria Juliana Dankwa-Vice President; Mr. Felix Adu-Poku-General Secretary, Mrs. Charity Abraham – Assistant Secretary; Mr. Alfred K. Attom-Prah-Treasurer and Mr. Sowah Boye-Editor.

Acceptance

In his acceptance speech, the new President of the Association thanked members for the confidence reposed in them and indicated that their interest and welfare would be prioritised at all levels of decision making. He called on members to be united and rally behind the executives to move the association to a higher level.

 Mr. Antwi-Konadu noted that GAUA formed a critical group of professionals on the campuses of every public university in the country adding that “GAUA is at the heart of every institution in terms of decision making and we make the university environment very conducive for academic work”. 

Managers 

The new President of GAUA noted that though GAUA was not always in the news like other unions in the universities adding that “If you don’t see us in the news always, it is because we are managers of our own and we manage conflicts and all the problems in the university”. He said the Association would demand fair treatment in terms of appointments, promotions, and other issues relating to their conditions of service. “We want our stakeholders to know that GAUA will be a force to reckon with going forward,” he stated.

The new President said GAUA would work in collaboration with all unions and stakeholders within the tertiary landscape, however, the Association would not tolerate any act of discrimination stressing that “GAUA deserves better treatment.” 

Achievements

The immediate past National President of GAUA, Mr. Kwame Yeboah on behalf of the outgoing executives said the association under their administration made several achievements including pursuing issues of conditions of service, enhanced media visibility, and unity among members. He further indicated that the leadership of the association negotiated with Fair Wages to extend basic allowances to members and responsibility to scheduled officers; Continuous Professional Development Programmes (CPD) by the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana for members, submission memorandum on Public Universities to government on behalf of GAUA among others.

Build on our Good Work

Mr. Yeboah called on the new executives to build on the good work they had done within their two years in office and remain focus to achieve the aims and objectives of the association. He advised them to unite members and work on the apathy towards GAUA meetings and activities.

Be Committed to the Task Ahead

The Registrar of UCC, Mr. Jeff Teye Onyame, commended the past executives for their meritorious services to the association and urged the new ones to be committed to the task ahead. He was confident that the new executives would bring on board their rich experiences to change the fortune of the association.

Mr. Onyame assured the executives of his loyalty to the association adding that “I’m happy to be a member of GAUA and my elevation as Registrar does not bar me from taking part in your activities”.

The handing over was attended by GAUA representatives from KNUST, UCC, University of Ghana, University of Education Winneba, University of Mines and Technology, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana Institute of Journalism, University of Health and Allied Sciences and University for Development Studies.
 

The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Her Excellency, Shani Cooper, has expressed her country’s readiness to partner UCC to boost Agribusiness, Technology and Innovation.
    
Her Excellency, Shani Cooper, made this known when she paid a courtesy call to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong.

The Israeli Ambassador noted that Ghana and Israel had a long standing relationship that the Vice-Chancellor and his team could capitalise on to develop the University. She indicated that Education was a priority to her country and hence, the Embassy would connect UCC to universities and organisations in Israel. 

Israel's Success Story

Ms. Cooper who also has oversight responsibility over Liberia and Sierra Leone said the Embassy would partner the University to become one of the best destinations of higher education in Africa and beyond in the areas of Agribusiness, Technology and Innovations.  She indicated that through effective collaborations, industries in Israel offered start-up packages to graduates to begin their own businesses. “Our universities have direct collaboration with the private sector so we always help our students to start businesses as soon as they graduate," she explained.

Students' Experience in Israel

The Israeli Ambassador announced that plans were far advanced to include UCC in an exchange programme where levels 200 and 300 as well as postgraduate students pursuing Agriculture would be attached to farms in Israel. Such students according to her would be working in various areas in agriculture such as fishing, animal rearing, and crop production using green house technology for 11 months. This would enable them to acquire knowledge and skills in agribusiness. She explained that the project was being executed between Israel and the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. She added that the first batch of 55 students from Ghana went to Israel in 2019. "I must add that the Ghanaian students distinguished themselves when they went to Israel and they are highly sought for by our farmers,” she added. 

Ms. Cooper expressed interest to learn more about UCCs success story in the area of Distance Education which she noted would be beneficial to Universities in Israel.

Entrepreneurial University

On his part, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Johnson Boampong, said his vision was to transform UCC as an Entrepreneurial University. He noted that this vision was inspired by his visit to Israel where he realised that the country was making good use of the green house technology to boost agriculture for local consumption and export. 

Prof. Boampong indicated that UCC was interested in expanding its partnership with the Embassy in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM),  Agribusiness, Technology and Innovation, Primary Health Care, and History. “My leadership has an enormous task ahead of us and we look forward to partner you to implement this vision and we know the Israeli Embassy in Ghana can connect us to universities and organisations in Israel,” he stressed.

Agribusiness

In the area of Agribusiness, Prof. Boampong informed the Ambassador that the University had large hectares of land for commercial farming and would need the expertise of Israel to develop grid irrigation and green house technology. “We intend to vigorously pursue agri-business through this commercial farm venture,” he explained. 

The Vice-Chancellor commended the Ambassador for expressing interest to support his administration to achieve his vision for the University. He assured the Ambassador of a fruitful working relationship with UCC.

The Israeli Ambassador donated a biogas system that could produce gas for domestic and industrial use as well as liquid fertilizer for agriculture purposes. 

The Vice-Chancellor later took Ms. Cooper to the University Teaching and Research Farm to inspect the Green House project.

Present at the meeting were the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dora Edu-Buandoh; Registrar, Mr. Jeff Teye Onyame; Provost College of Distance Education, Prof. Isaac K. A. Galyuon and Dean, School of Agriculture, Prof. Elvis Asare-Bediako.