The Asantehene, Otumfour Osei Tutu II, will grace the 51st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) as a special guest of honour when the four-day event opens in Kumasi tomorrow.

The March 23-27, 2021, AGM at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has been christened "Engineering: A key to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)".

It will also be attended by the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, who has been invited as the main speaker.

Some members will join the AGM via zoom, a virtual platform, to allow members — both home and abroad — participate in conformity with the COVID-19 social distancing protocols.

Press briefing

At a briefing in Kumasi last Wednesday, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the GhIE AGM, Nana Poku Agyeman, said the conference would create a platform for all stakeholders in the engineering field to dialogue and make recommendations in helping Ghana's strive to attain the SDGs.

“The contributions of engineers to the development of Ghana emphasise that everything around us is through the handiwork of engineers,” Nana Agyeman, who is also the Director of Urban Roads for Ashanti Region, added.

“Engineers Act’

The President-elect of the GhIE, Professor Reverend Charles Adam, explained that with the successful passing of the Legislative Instrument "Engineering Council Act, 2011 (Act 819)", the institution was well positioned by law to help bring absolute sanity into the engineering fraternity.

"This Act will help the GhIE flash out all quack engineers who operate without appropriate licensing," he said.

He said the Act mandates the Engineering Council to exercise disciplinary powers over engineering practitioners in respect of the practice of their profession and works related to the practice of engineering.