Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, a Justice of the Supreme Court, herself a Fellow of the Academy, presented the certificates to the 31 commemorated members, including Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana, Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah, Prof. Kofi Ampenyin Allotey, Prof. Christian G. Baeta, Dr Leticia Obeng, Emerita Prof. Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf, Dr Emmanuel Evans-Anfom, Justice Nii Amaah Ollenu, and Rev. Prof. Kwesi Abotsia Dickson.

Speaking on behalf of the recipients, one of the awardees, Nana Prof. S.K.B. Asante, said he was happy to be given the opportunity to speak on behalf of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Dr J.B. Danquah and expressed the hope that the ceremony would be replicated in all aspect of Ghana’s development to bring about inter-party togetherness and cross fertilisation of ideas for the good of the country.

More than half of the commemorated were posthumous.

Fellows

One of the commemorated Fellows, the former Minister of Education and first female Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, said it was a delight to be recognised by fellow academicians and prayed that the Academy would live up to its billing to encourage the creation, acquisition, dissemination and utilisation of knowledge for national development through the promotion of learning.

Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang is the Presidential Running mate of John Mahama in the 2020 general election.

Other Fellows, who were commemorated, were Emeritus Prof. Kwame Gyekye, Emerita Prof. Mary Esther Kropp-Dakubu, Dr Adu Boahen, Mr Ahmishaddai Bekoe Adu, Dr Eugine Date-Bah, Prof. Ebenezer Laing, Prof. Akilakpa Sawyerr, Prof. Ernest Amanor-Boateng, Dr Mrs Susan Degraft Johnson, Prof. Joseph Yarney-Ewusi, Prof. Daniel Adzei Bekoe, Prof. Felix Israel Domeno Konotey-Ahulu, Prof. Reginalld Fraiser Amonoo, Dr Samuel  Yeboa Bimpong-Buta, Prof. Fred Torbor Sai, Prof. Volker Ter Muelen, Prof. Ralph amaills-Tettey, Prof. Daniel Afedzie Akyeampong and Prof. Aba Bentil Andam.

Emeritus Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana who delivered the  2022 Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lecture soon after the Commemoration ceremony, made a passionate appeal to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to review the Free SHS Policy which, he said, was good but needed some critical assessment.

He said a review did not mean abolition and called on the President, for the sake and good of the future and general education of the country, to take a second look at the policy and its implementation.

Lecture

The topic for the lecture was: ‘Education and reforms in Ghana and their impact on the youth’.
Emeritus Prof. Addae-Mensah extolled the contribution of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah for his policy to expand education and his efforts to make education accessible to all.

The aims of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences are, among others, to bring together the highest level of intellectuals, experts, professionals in the country to constitute a think tank in the Arts and Sciences to enable it to advise government and other relevant bodies on issues of national importance and development.