“To achieve sustainable advancement, leadership must learn to put in place appropriate governance systems that did not restrict people’s rights or state institutions because it has helped to strengthen legal regimes thereby advancing the cause of humanity,” he averred.

He cautioned that the advent of social media had further created knowledge-base to create awareness on emerging development trends globally and make life better for mankind.

Prof. Kufuor, who has been a Professor of Law at the University of East London, was speaking on the topic: ‘A Very Convenient Marriage: Law and Technology in the Quest for Economic Transformation’, at the maiden Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Faculty of Law ‘Eminent Legal Scholars Public Lecture Series’, in Kumasi.

According to him, “countries that appreciate civil liberty and enact laws to build institutional efficiency, achieve accelerated transformation and socio-economic progress, growth, development and public good and stressed on the need for enactment of appropriate laws to bring about innovative ideas and technological know-how as protection of intellectual property.

“We need to also strengthen the legal framework underpinning the rule of law and democratic dispensation so as to assist and support the creation of state institutions, independence, freedom of expression, tolerance of differing viewpoints, and citizenry empowerment to actively engage in national cohesion and nation building,” Prof. Kufuor explained.

Citing how the Netherlands grew to become a powerhouse, he observed that learning from their experiences under Spain, law of the Dutch union protected the right to free expression and right to form associations which held the state at arm’s length from the institutions of higher learning.

Prof. Kufuor noted that the legal framework of the Dutch Republic set the stage for flourishing of technology on the back of tolerance, scientists and technologists thrived as the country attracted scientists and other thinkers from all over Europe.

He commended KNUST for setting the stage for multidisciplinary approach to legal education through the lecture series which was critical for advancement of society.
Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, observed that the lecture series was aimed at improving intellectual conversation, design a route for the nation to obtain knowledge from prominent scholars, those in other fields, help to improve people’s quality of life and their overall well-being.

According to her, the university envisioned itself as the leading provider of legal education, preparing the human resources, skills needed to advance socioeconomic, technological and industrial development adding that “the rate at which technology is advancing demands equal measure in law for transformation”.