In celebration of the school’s 70years of contributing to Ghana’s technical workforce, management of the university has unveiled the theme and logo for the anniversary slated for May 2024.  

The Kumasi Technical University was established in the 1950s as Kumasi Technical Institute to offer craft courses. 

In 1963, the Institute was converted to a non-tertiary polytechnic status under the Ghana Education Service to start offering, in addition, technician diploma and sub-professional courses. 

The technical university is set to celebrate 70 years of its existence in Kumasi. 

In celebration of the university’s seven decades of technical education, management has unveiled the theme and logo for the anniversary.  

Under the theme: “70 Years of Excellence, Steering the Wheels of Technical and Academic Vocational Education”, the platinum jubilee celebration is slated for May 2024. 

Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Gabriel Dwomoh, explains the theme for the event. 

“This theme encapsulates our ongoing mission to empower individuals with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to thrive in an ever changing world.

In an era defined by rapid technological advancements and dynamic global challenges, technical and vocational education plays a pivotal role in shaping the workforce of tomorrow and driving socio-economic progress,” he said. 

He added that: “Throughout the years, our university has been at the forefront of innovation in technical and vocational education, pioneering new approaches, and forging partnerships that bridge the gap between academia and industry”. 

Since its inception, the university has produced some of the country’s best vocational and technical talents. 

Prof Dwomoh reaffirmed the school’s dedication to equipping the next generation with relevant skills for the fourth industrial revolution. 

“Our commitment to excellence extends beyond the confines of our campus, as we strive to equip our graduates with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge needed to succeed in the real world.

“As we embark on this journey of celebration and reflection, let us reaffirm our dedication to the principles that have guided us as a university: integrity, commitment, equal opportunity for all our stakeholders and setting the pace for others to follow,” he said. 

He takes over from Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw, and pledges to provide quality leadership to make the University a centre of academic, technical and technological excellence.

The Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) held a colorful investiture ceremony which was witnessed by alumni groups, academics, diplomats, government officials, traditional rulers, families and friends of the new Vice-Chancellor.

The academician, Professor Gabriel Dwomoh, becomes the second appointed Vice Chancellor of the University after its conversion from a polytechnic to a technical university.

Professor Gabriel Dwomoh in his induction address acknowledged the university has more room for improvement in protecting and developing its niche area.

“To deal with the institution’s infrastructure deficit will be to intensify investment in digital infrastructure. I will strengthen the university governance and administration to enhance the university’s education, completing all fiscal projects and ensuring maintenance of existing ones, developing the capacity of staff and supporting them to realise their full potential,” he said.

Prof. Dwomoh further promised to tackle pending setbacks of the institution, whilst bridging the gap between university’s top management, staff and students to ensure the institution thrives in academic excellence.

“I will build bridges that will aid in connecting the university to its far-reaching mission. Again, let me also assure all of you gathered here that bridges that will be built, shall be maintained and if necessary expanded as they will be needed tomorrow,” he said. 

Chairman of the Governing Council of the Kumasi Technical University, Prof. Dr. Ben Baffoe-Bonnie, who administered the Oath of Office, urged the new vice chancellor to champion the interest of the university.

“Use your position as a bridge between management and staff so everybody will be involved in the pursuit of greatness of the school.

“Your decision should always be in the interest of the university and the council will not interfere, but ensure harmony,” he said.

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Reacting to a 2021 Auditor General’s report that stated that 32 programmes were not accredited in 2021, KsTU explained that, 16 of them have since been accredited as of now.

The other 16 programmes were, however, at various stages of the accreditation process.

In a rejoinder to a report filed by Graphic Online from the Public Accounts Committee sitting where the issue of accreditation came up, Mr Joshua Appiah, the Acting University Relations Officer, wrote: “Management of the university states that the headline is misleading since it does not reflect the current situation of accreditation at the university as indicated in the content of the article.

“KsTU wants to assure its students, potential students, and the general public that its programmes are being run upon the highest standards required by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET),” the university added.

At the Public Accounts Committee sitting

When the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament began its sitting in Sunyani in the Bono Region last Monday [Sept 4, 2023] to consider the 2021 Auditor General’s Report referred to the committee, the issue of the accreditation came up.

The PAC said institutions running unaccredited programmes was an issue that affected students negatively when they later applied to pursue higher programmes at other universities.

It, therefore, urged the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to consider implementing automatic renewals for ongoing programmes, and to speed up their entire processes.

It also charged the commission to embark on regular monitoring to find out how accreditation was implemented in the universities to avoid setbacks for students.

Unacceptable

A member of the committee, Akwasi Konadu, said it was unacceptable for universities to run programmes without accreditation.

He explained that the situation would tarnish the image and credibility of the universities and the acceptability of the certificates that are awarded.

However, responding to the committee, the management of the KsTU said the university was doing everything possible to get the 32 programmes accredited, explaining that currently, 16 of them had been accredited, while the other 16 were at various stages of the accreditation process.

The management explained that, the accreditation process could take between six months and one year.

An accredited programme takes three to five years to expire, depending on the type.

Invitation

The Chairman of the PAC, Dr James Klutse Avedzi, said the committee would invite the GTEC and the universities to find a solution to problems related to the delay in renewing or granting accreditation.

“There is the need to bring the two bodies together to look at where the problem is and how we can address it, so we don’t examine students on courses and programmes that don’t have accreditation,” he said.

Dr Avedzi said the issue of running unaccredited programmes at the universities was not limited to the KsTU, but that it was a common phenomenon across the traditional universities in the country.

He said both the universities and GTEC were partly to blame for the delay in the granting of accreditation to the programmes being run by the institutions.

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They include five Master of Technology programmes, nine Bachelor of Technology programmes, 17 Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes and one Diploma programme.

In addition, the report captured 29 of the university’s programmes that expired between 2009 and 2018.  

These came to light when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament began its sitting in Sunyani in the Bono Region last Monday to consider the 2021 Auditor General’s Report referred to the committee.

The PAC said institutions running unaccredited programmes was an issue that affected students negatively when they later applied to pursue higher programmes at other universities.

It, therefore, urged the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to consider implementing automatic renewals for ongoing programmes, and to speed up their entire processes.

It also charged the Commission to embark on regular monitoring to find out how accreditation was implemented in the universities to avoid setbacks for students.

Unacceptable

A member of the Committee, Akwasi Konadu, said it was unacceptable for universities to run programmes without accreditation.

He explained that, the situation would tarnish the image and credibility of the universities and the acceptability of the certificates that are awarded.

However, responding to the committee, management of the KsTU said the university was doing everything possible to get the 32 programmes accredited, explaining that currently, 16 of them had been accredited, while the other 16 programmes were at various stages of the accreditation process.

The management explained that the accreditation process could take between six months and one year.

An accredited programme took three to five years to expire depending on the type of programme.

Invitation

The Chairman of the PAC, Dr James Klutse Avedzi, said the committee would invite the GTEC and the universities to find a solution to problems related to the delay in renewing or granting accreditation.

“There is the need to bring the two bodies together to look at where the problem is and how we can address it, so we don’t examine students on courses and programmes that don’t have accreditation,” he said.

Dr Avedzi said the issue of running unaccredited programmes at the universities was not limited to the KsTU, but that it was a common phenomenon across the traditional universities in the country.

He said both the universities and GTEC were partly to be blamed for the delay in the granting of accreditation to the programmes being run by the institutions.

Refer case

The committee also referred the Sefwi Wiawso College of Education in the Western North Region to the Attorney-General (A-G) for investigation towards prosecution.

Dr Avedzi said the institution, led by its Principal, Dr Emmanuel Cersamar, had breached procurement laws as flagged by the 2021 Auditor-General’s Report.

He said the college used GH¢276,807.22 to procure goods and services for the college without going through procurement processes.

Dr Avedzi said the institution also procured the goods and services without seeking alternative quotation in violation of the relevant law.

He explained that the auditors had recommended that for not adhering to the relevant provisions of the Procurement Act, heads of the institutions should be sanctioned.

Hearing

The PAC sitting in Sunyani, which started last Monday, is expected to end on Friday, September 8, 2023.

It is considering the report of the Auditor General on technical universities, colleges of education, second cycle institutions, and assemblies in the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Ashanti and Western North regions, covering the period ended December 31, 2021.

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His appointment comes barely a week after the local chapter of the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG), pleaded with the search committee to appoint a qualified individual internally.

Prof Gabriel Dwomoh will be the second substantive Vice-Chancellor since the introduction of the Technical University Act, Act 2016 (Act 922) which converted all polytechnics in the country into technical universities.

Prof Dwomoh is expected to serve a four-year term, which takes effect from September 1, 2023.

He is currently the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University, expected to succeed the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Nana Prof Owusu Achiaw.

In a letter signed by the University’s Relations Office, the school noted his appointment was concluded following a special meeting by the governing council of the university.

“At the 40th (Special) Meeting held on Tuesday, 15th August 2023, the University’s council accepted the Report of the Search Committee for Appointment of Vice-Chancellor for the University; and has appointed Professor Gabriel Dwomoh, Professor of Management, as the Vice Chancellor, for a four-year term,” the statement read.

Profile of Professor Gabriel Dwomoh

Prof Gabriel Dwomoh is the first and youngest full professor of the Business School at the Kumasi Technical University.

He is an old boy of Opoku Ware School and was at the University of Cape Coast from (1994-1999), where he read Bachelor of Secretaryship.

After his Bachelor’s degree, he read Master of Arts in Industrial Psychology (Human Resource Management) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology between 2001 and 2004, and moved to Lincoln University for a Master of Business Administration (Finance) degree. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy at the Costa Rica Business School.

He started his career as a Management Trainee Assistant at AngloGold Ashanti and moved to Sunyani Technical University as a lecturer from 2000-2003.

Prof Dwomoh joined the Kumasi Technical University in 2009 as a lecturer in Human Resource Management and Entrepreneurship and was promoted as a Senior Lecturer.

He was consequently appointed to head the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development as the Director, from January 2012 to September 2016.

He was later appointed to head the Institute of Research Innovation and Development and subsequently, Director of the International Affairs and Institutional Linkages.

Prof Dwomoh played a crucial role in ensuring the Institute of Research Innovation and Development was recognized and approved as a Centre for MMDAs to award governments.

As the Director of International Affairs and Institutional Linkages, he spearheaded the signing of fifteen (15) international MoUs, and also developed proposals with Rizhao Polytechnic, China to establish a Luban Workshop in the areas of Creative Arts and Mechanical Engineering.

Prof Dwomoh is a member of several international bodies including International Research Association (Member), Professionals in Human Resources (Member) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

His research interests span a wide variety of areas including Expatriate Management, Industrial Relation Issues, Conflict Management, Performance Management and Diversity Management.

Prof Dwomoh is married with four children.

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The local chapter argues they have equally competent and experienced individuals to steer the affairs of the university.

On Tuesday morning, lecturers at the school converged on the university campus to register their displeasure over the supposed imposition.

Clad in red and black apparel, the senior academic members of the university wielded placards with the inscription, #VC_INTERNALMOVEMENT, while palm trees at the school’s administration block were decorated in red cloth.

The disagreement has since plunged the quest to appoint a new head of the university into uncertainty as the current Vice-Chancellor ends his tenure in September this year.

Sources at the university indicate that the governing board of the university is holding a crunch meeting to resolve the impasse.

Presently, Professor Osei-Wusu Achaw, a Chemical Engineer, is the Vice-Chancellor of the university.

He was appointed to office in 2019 together with three other officials as the governing council of the university.

The Statutes of the University stipulate that the Vice Chancellor has an individual renewable tenure of four years, while the Pro-Vice Chancellor has three years.

Established as Kumasi Technical Institute in 1954, the KsTU is one of Ghana’s foremost technical universities, presently holding the status as the best technical university in the country.

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The university management has said no student has been sacked.

Instead, students who have not registered for the second semester of the 2022–2023 Academic Year have been asked to defer their programmes.

The University’s Academic Board is said to have taken this decision, not the Chancellor, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor.

In a statement, KsTU management explained the directive was based on their failure to register despite an extended deadline.

The statement explained the deadline for registration was originally May 29, 2023, but it was extended to June 5, July 9, and July 28.

The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) subsequently asked for another extension.

“Despite the Executives of the SRC setting a deadline of August 3, 2023, the University added a human face and formally ended course registration for students on August 7, 2023, when even the End-of-Second-Semester Examination had begun.

“After these many concessions, there are still 648 students who have not registered, as opposed to the 2,000 that some media houses had stated,” the statement read in part.

The university emphasised that it has a policy of withdrawing students who fail to register, but it decided to be lenient in this case and asked the affected students to defer their programmes instead.

Meanwhile, the university assured that there is no tension on campus and that over 11,000 students who registered for the Second Semester are comfortably writing their examinations.

The statement reiterated the university’s commitment to providing quality education to all its students and said that it will continue to work with students to ensure that they are able to register and complete their studies.

Read the full statement below:

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Dr Addo-Kufuor will be the first Chancellor of KTU following a change of its status from a polytechnic to a full-fledged university.

The investiture of the appointee who served under the erstwhile John Agyekum Kufuor administration has been scheduled for September 30, 2022.

It will take place at 10:00 am at the university’s New Great Hall.

Dr Addo-Kufuor also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia constituency.