The passing away of Professor Alexander Adum Kwapong a little over a month ago signals the gradual phasing out of the first generation of Ghanaian scholars and intellectuals who laid the foundation of university education in Ghana.
He dedicated his entire life to public service, most of them in academia. It is fitting and proper that his funeral this weekend reflects this fact.
There will be a vigil tonight, Friday September 12 at the Forecourt of the Great Hall which is named after him and called the Alexander Adum Kwapong Quadrangle from 6:30 pm – 8.30 pm. The burial service and final funeral rites on Saturday will also be at the same venue, the University of Ghana, Legon. The thanksgiving service will however be at the Ridge Church in Accra.
The details of Professor Kwapong’s distinguished life are well known and should serve as an inspiration for the nation. After studying at Achimota College in Ghana, he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies
He went on to become a lecturer and then full professor at the University of Ghana where he taught Greek, Latin and ancient history. Over time, he was appointed to a number of senior posts with the University of Ghana, before becoming the university’s first Ghanaian Vice-Chancellor in 1966.
After serving in that capacity for 10 years, Professor Kwapong moved to the United Nations University in Tokyo and took up the post of Vice-Rector for Institutional Planning and Resource Development.
According to a tribute by the U.N University, Professor Kwapong “worked closely with the first rector, James H. Hester, to lay the foundations necessary for UNU as both a university and a part of the United Nations system, and to attract funding for the University.
Working with UNU’s second rector, Dr. Soedjatmoko, he was instrumental in the establishment of the first UNU institute — the UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) — and the first institute established in Africa — the UNU Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), based in Accra, Ghana”.
After leaving UNU, he was a Professor of International Development at Dalhousie University in Canada and the Director of Africa Programmes for the Commonwealth of Learning. He was awarded the 1981 Simba Prize for Scholarly Essays (Rome) and is the author of many articles in scholarly journals.
Professor Kwapong served on numerous boards, including the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and the International Council for Educational Development.
Retiring from academic work did not mean the end of his public service. He became the chairman of the Council of State from 2001 to 2005 where he played his role as one of the government’s principal advisors.
In an interview on his achievements, Dr Kwapong remarked that, “the minimum qualification to be a good leader is not intellectual capacity but the capability to work with people, the modesty to understand one’s own limitations and to do one’s homework”.
The nation has lost a great Ghanaian.
Beating journalists is not smart
The National Media Commission (NMC) last Monday issued a statement condemning recent assaults on journalists. The statement, which was signed by NMC Chairman, Kabral Blay Amihere, specifically called on the police to investigate thoroughly, two recent incidents of assault on journalists in the country and take all appropriate measures to protect media workers in the performance of their duties.
The two recent cases referred to in the statement have been the subject of public debate throughout the week. Daniel Kenu, a Daily Graphic reporter was assaulted in Kumasi by a gang allegedly linked to Mr Asamoah Gyan, the Captain of the national football team, the Black Stars, while Joojoh Cobbinah and Festus Solomon, two Joy TV journalists were allegedly harassed on the orders of the Accra Mayor while the pair were doing their job.
The NMC statement concluded: “Such assaults and similar unwarranted attacks on media professionals and other people working for media organisations constitute a threat to press freedom, and an affront to Ghana’s Constitution and ordinary decencies in our society and nation”.
The Ghana Journalists Association and the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) have also issued statements condemning the assault and urging the police to do a thorough job.
In the case of the Kumasi assault, the CEO of GCGL has taken to social media platforms to support journalists and praised the Ashanti Regional Police Command for doing its work as expected.
Physically attacking journalists in the course of their duty is one of the means by which people seek to intimidate the media and stop the smooth functioning of democracy in a country.
Such acts go beyond the physical assault of the journalists but are acts against society in general because the proper functioning of the media is important for the society as a whole.
As is often pointed out, people would realise the value of the media if they woke up one day to complete silence; no radio, no TV, no newspapers, - a total information void.
There can be no hiding of the fact that there is room for huge improvements in the practice of journalism in Ghana; despite the best efforts of the NMC, the media landscape is largely a free-for-all.
Myriad codes of conduct have been printed for print and broadcast journalists but these have hardly touched some journalists who continue to behave as if the trade has no rules.
However, the majority of journalists are doing their work against serious challenges and deprivations. The challenges facing the media industry in this country are not all down to the incompetence or corruption of journalists although one has to concede that better training and preparation by journalists would help
. But we need the media and it is better to encourage people who work in it to do their work to the highest expectations rather than subject them to beatings.
The worst aspects of the assaults is that they are being committed by people who are themselves creations of the media; so-called celebrities who owe every bit of their fame, and perhaps fortune from being promoted in the media. It is ironic that these are the same people who turn around, in a phrase, to bite the hand that feeds them.
Having said that, and without implying that the journalists who have been victims in the recent assaults and harassment have caused any offence, it has to be remembered that we all make mistakes.
Imagine if we had to beat up a singer every time they sang a wrong note; or an actor every time they fluffed their lines, or indeed a footballer every time he kicked against his own heel instead of the ball in front of an open goal…
Young people learn from these “celebrities” who are their heroes so we cannot stress enough that people in the “public eye” who commit crimes such as assault, not only on journalists, but on anyone should be shown the red card.
It is important for the law and society to send a loud message, especially to the youth, that assault is not smart.
