There is a joke making the rounds in Africa, which mocks our excessive preoccupation with politics. It goes like this: “Ghanaians think they invented politics in Africa”! But alas, there is life beyond politics. There are leaders in our communities, corporate world and other institutions who do not necessarily carry the tag politician but whose leadership is helping to transform the institutions they lead and are touching so many lives in a positive way.
One of such leaders is Professor Kwesi Akwansah Andam, the then Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi (KNUST).
Prof Andam was born at Ekumfi Atakwaa in the Central Region on December 15 1946. He attended Ghana Secondary Technical School at Takoradi and later Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
He completed his first degree in Civil Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). KNUST was thus, an institution which gave him so much, and it was an institution he was so much determined to impact. Professor Andam returned to KNUST after his postgraduate studies at University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK. He did so at a time when conditions in the country were as unbearable as any one could imagine.
Prof Andam left University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne with a PhD in Structural Engineering Computer Aided Design (CAD) Division, with special skill in computer applications in structural engineering. At the time, computer applications in civil and structural engineering, as we know today, was just picking up at the world stage. As a structural engineer Prof. Andam’s admiration of architectural beauties was beyond description.
Prof. Andam could have secured a lucrative position with some of the top universities, engineering institutions or companies around the globe. Instead, he chose to come home. When he came, he was determined to stay, no matter what, and stay he did.
Prof. Andam took up appointment as a lecturer with KNUST and was promoted a senior lecturer in 1985, an associate professor in 1992 and a full professor in 1997. Prof. Kwesi Andam was chosen by then President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufour as the Vice Chancellor of KNUST. His four-year term started in September 2002 and ended in September 2006.
When he became Vice Chancellor of KNUST, he made sure he did not forget the poor and under privileged high school graduates from the rural areas. He was determined to pave the way for a reasonable number of graduates from rural underprivileged schools to gain admission to the university. Hence, his establishment of admission quota for graduates from those schools. With this action, Prof Andam, unlike the politicians who just play with empty “promises of fish”, he was showing the rural folks “how to fish” for better future. We may all have our opinions on this matter, but no one can dispute the good intentions of the action.
As a lecturer, a head of department, a dean and a vice chancellor, he was determined and dedicated to genuine courses he believed would impact on the lives of others. He was hard working and never gave up so easily on a genuine course.
Since being appointed, Professor Andam and his team have developed a strategic plan to make the university a real centre of excellence for research, training and innovation. Professor Andam was determined to expand the university and not to shrink it. He was committed to deepening the university’s relationship with the various communities surrounding it as well as improving its links to industry. Professor Andam has made waves ever since he was appointed to head one of the most strategic tertiary institutions in our country.
Prof Andam never forgot his Christian faith as he lived a life, worthy of emulation as a staunch Christian, following the ways of the Bible and making sure the gospel was propagated.
He was a prolific writer who had over 100 science books and papers to his credit. Prof Andam held many positions in and outside the country and was the seventh Vice-Chancellor of KNUST. Prof. Andam who was President of the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE) from the year 1999 to 2000 was very active in expanding the Institution’s membership and reaching out to the wider public: in fact, the women’s organization within GhIE, Women In Engineenering (WINE), came into existence because of his suggestion and his encouragement.
Among innovations being contemplated under the administration of Prof. Andam was the proposed introduction of an Aerospace Engineering programme in collaboration with Washington State University, which would be supported by Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer.
Prof. Andam died at the 37 Military Hospital on December 14 2007 after a short illness, at the age of 61 years. It is indeed gratifying to note that there are Ghanaians out there, like Professor Andam, who are willing and ready to roll up their sleeves to do their best for their country.
Prof. Andam might not have been an angel. He might not have been without faults but he was a man of vision. Through his visionary thinking he was able to impact positively on KNUST and the nation at large. Let us not forget this great man. We say bravo!
COMPILED BY: ADIAMAH SOLOMON YAYRA
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