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Prof. (Mrs.) Akosua Dickson takes over as KNUST first female Vice Chancellor
It is a truism that “while most people are dreaming of success, winners wake-up and work hard to achieve it.”
The above quotation perfectly fits the first female Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) formerly University of Science and Technology (UST) in the Ashanti Regional Capital, Kumasi.
Through commitment, humility, dedication and hard work among other attributes, Prof. (Mrs) Rita Akosua Dickson, a Ghanaian Phytochemist now occupies this enviable position for a four-year term, effective August 1, 2020 to July 31, 2024.
Appointment
The Governing Council of the great institution made the appointment at its 258th (Special) Meeting held on June 25, 2020, upon the acceptance of the Report of the Search Committee for the appointment of Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Prior to her new appointment, the affable Prof. (Mrs) Akosua Dickson served as the 21st Pro-Vice-Chancellor and later as the Acting Vice-Chancellor in October 2018, when the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Obiri Danso was asked temporarily to step aside when student agitations and violence rocked the university campus.
Consequently, she was elected the Vice-Dean and ultimately the Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (FPPS) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), on two occasions (2016-2018), thus becoming the first female to be appointed to that position in the history of the Faculty.
For three terms (2010-2013) she became the Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy, KNUST.
Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, Professor of Pharmacognosy, has pledged to continue to live up to her responsibilities notwithstanding any odds that might come her way being
the first female to occupy such an enviable academic position in the 68 years history of KNUST, where she is an alumna.
Education
She began her basic education at the Akantome Primary School at Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional Capital, through Royal International School, Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Professor Dickson then went to St. Monica’s Secondary School at Mampong-Ashanti on Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board scholarship.
She studied for the General Certificate Examination, Advanced Level, at the Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape-Coast, the Central Regional Capital and qualified for the university to study Pharmacy at KNUST.
After graduating in 1994, she was invited by the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, KNUST, to undertake her National Service and subsequently a Teaching Assistantship position at the Department, alongside her Pharmacy Council which required hospital internship at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi.
Professor Dickson further pursued Research Graduate Studies leading to the award of Master of Pharmacy Degree in Pharmacognosy in 1999 at KNUST.
Her hard work and commitment to duty got her the opportunity to be appointed a Lecturer in 2000 at the Department of Pharmacognosy.
She received a Commonwealth Scholarship award in 2003 to study for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at Kings’ College, London, and also at the University of London, UK, where she studied a parallel programme in education and acquired a Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice(GCAP).
On her return to Ghana, she was promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer in 2009 and between 2011 and 2012, Professor Dickson won a Commonwealth Academic Fellowship at the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of London, UK, as a visiting Scientist Researching into Bioactive Natural Products as well as Novartis Fellow in collaboration with Seeding Labs in the United States of America.
She was promoted to Associate Professor of Pharmacognosy in 2014.
Experience
As an accomplished Phytochemist, her scientific knowledge and research expertise have impacted the international scientific community in terms of training, mentorship and scientific appraisals.
Her research work spans the identification and development of bioactive natural products as standard medicines for the treatment and management of communicable and non-communicable diseases, among others.
She is keen on phytopharmaceutical analysis and quality control of herbal medicines to ensure their safety and efficacy, with the conviction that Africans can reduce the continent’s disease burden by exploring the use of its flora and fauna.
Professor Dickson’s research mentorship has led to the training of a number of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and PhD students, some of whom are currently employed in renowned public universities in the country including KNUST, and research centres in Ghana.
Membership
She has actively engaged the global scientific community with her research contributions. Currently, she has over 80 published scientific articles and conference proceedings to her credit. In addition, she has authored and co-authored five books and book chapters within the domain of her expertise.
She is very visible on renowned academic platforms such as Research Gate, Google Scholar and Scopus with research impact of over 24,000 article reads and more than 700 citations in various scientific disciplines.
Among other engagements, she serves as a reviewer for several journals in pharmacognosy, natural products chemistry and phytochemistry.
She is presently the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Ethnomedicine and Pharmacognosy (IJEP) and editorial member of International Journal of Science and Research Methodology (IJSRM).
She is a member of the Society of Medicinal Plant Research (GA), among other international associations.
The Vice-Chancellor is married to Nana Sarkodie Dickson, a Chartered Accountant, and the couple is blessed with four daughters; Akosua Dickson, Abena Dickson, Akua Dickson and Afua Dickson.
At her leisure time, Prof. Dickson loves to cook traditional foods and share with friends. To maintain healthy lifestyle, she avoids junk foods and goes to the gym to keep fit.
From Kingsley E. Hope, Kumasi
Profile
Mrs Fuseini shares story of her journey to the top as 2024 Best Teacher
Oustanding teacher in Ghana
Growing up, Mrs Fuseina Fuseini’s greatest ambition was to become a lawyer.
Her reason for that determination was simple – to ‘fight’ for the vulnerable in society and be an advocate against early marriage in her community.
Though, she did not realise that childhood dream to become a lawyer due to financial difficulties, her passion and desire for teaching over the years was given a very good though – and it paid off.
For her close followers, her biggest career honour chalked recently in the teaching industry came as little surprise.
Mrs Fuseini was recently adjudged the first female kindergarten teacher to win the highest national honour for teachers.
She received that recognition at a forum at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi last weekend for her consistency, dedication, hard work and innovation in teaching and learning.
For her prize, Mrs Fuseini received a three-bedroom house and a scholarship to study abroad if she so desires, with funding from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
The 47 year-old Kindergarten (KG) teacher at the Madina SDA Basic School in the Greater Accra Region with over a decade experience in the teaching profession shares her journey with The Spectator.
Mrs Fuseini grew up in a community where teachers were respected and valued.
This influenced her decision to venture into teaching.
But that passion for teaching aside, Mrs Fuseini also realised that teaching can offer a similar platform to work as an advocate for the underprivileged and the marginalised in the society.
“Gone were the days, teachers commanded some sort of respect; they were seen to be disciplined. They were seen as mentors in the community. They were very influential.”
“I realised teaching was also a form of advocacy to share ideas. Most of my family members were teachers and that even made it easy for me to go into the profession,” she explained.
Education
After completing Senior High School (SHS) at the Saint Monica’s School of Education at Asante Mampong in the Ashanti region, she furthered her education at the University of Education (Winneba) where she studied for diploma in Basic Education.
“Teaching Kindergaten for the past 15 years gives me so much joy. I have a feeling it’s my calling because I teach children with ease and vibe with the children so easily,” she stated.
With her experience at the kindergarten level, Mrs Fuseini is in a better position to clear a few misconceptions at that early stage of child education.
She is aware of a few of these misconceptions, one of which is the school of thought that Kindergarten class or school is all about uniformed kids eating and sleeping.
In her view, that stage of a child’s education or upbringing is very crucial and urged both teachers and parents to pay attention to the little ones at that stage.
Explaining the educational curriculum used in teaching, Mrs Fuseini noted that three methods were employed in teaching the kids.
They are the differentiated, play-based and hands-on-learn methods.
The differentiated method demands from the teacher to allow the child to go about activities differently according to their strength.
In the play-based curriculum, the children are allowed to play and by so doing, it builds their creativity and supports their future aspiration.
Furthermore, she said children were sometimes grouped according to their abilities in the hands-on-learn method to explore with their hands.
Feeling
Sharing how she felt when she was announced as winner of the prestigious award – The Most Outstanding Teacher of the Year, she exclaimed: “I was full of joy and also proud of my achievement and immense contribution to the country.
“This is history because this is the first time a kindergarten teacher has ever won such an award and I count myself blessed and lucky.”
She commended the initiative to reward dedicated teachers, saying the recognition was key to bring out the best in every teacher.
Mrs Fuseini believes that dedication to her profession has played a significant role in her achievements, adding that, “This is going to motivate and inspire so many teachers to do their best despite the stress associated with the teaching job.”
“If I get the needed support, I would want to do my PHD in teaching. I still want to focus on kindergarten in order to rebrand the early child education sector”
Challenges
Infrastructure is one major challenge facing education at this level. Some are the inadequate space that compel authorities to put too many children in a class.
This, she explained, makes too overwhelming and children sometimes finds it difficult to pay attention in class.
She said despite the few gains chalked at the sector, they were limited sometimes in the area of resources due to the lack of logistics like puzzles, building blocks and computers to support the curriculum.
Teachers are described as a bridge upon which people use to get to their destination and therefore must not be neglected.
There is, therefore, the need to make provisions for them not only through finances but ensuring that they teach in a good environment.
Family
She was born to Fuseina Salifu and Amina Fuseini in Ketekrachi in the Oti Region of Ghana.
She is the third child among eight siblings and married to Mr Zibrim Biosama and are blessed with three children.
When Mrs Fuseini is not in the classroom, she can watch movies all day.
She appealed to all teachers to show dedication to the profession and called on the government to support the teaching department with incentives.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
News
Ransford Antwi, set to upset the apple-cart in Sunyani East
Mr Antwi
The race for the Sunyani East Constituency parliamentary seat has become keener and hotter following the decision by Mr Ransford Antwi, an Independent Candidate to join the race for the December general election.
Mr Antwi, a Sunyani based businessman and philanthropist, has pledged to challenge the longstanding dominance of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate in the forthcoming general election.
It has traditionally been a stronghold of the NPP since 1996, however, Mr Antwi seem undeterred by NPP’s strength, vowing to upset the apple-cart.
His reason for that belief is simple – the NPP and their candidate have failed to meet the developmental needs of the people.
This, he believes is buttressed by the large army of the youth and some influential figures within the constituency and abroad throwing their weight behind his candidacy.
Mr Antwi in handshake with former president kuffour
Mr Antwi says his candidacy provides hope and progress for the community.
And it appears his campaign is going on smoothly with a section of the youth, especially the first time voters in the constituency have bought into his ideas.
In separate conversations with a number of them at a campaign activity, they made it clear to The Spectator in an interview that they were relishing a change because it appears they have been taken for granted for a long time.
Reputation
Mr Antwi with former president JJ Rawlings
Mr Antwi is a royal from Sunyani with a strong reputation for honesty and integrity. His connection with the youth and readiness to help in various community activities have earned him significant support from the electorate.
He remains very confident in winning the seat in December following a recent survey from Infoanalytic which identified him as the favoured candidate among the others.
“My decision to contest for the Sunyani East parliamentary seat is to reverse the downwards spiral of developmental needs in the constituency.
My primary focus would be on development and job creation and equip a significant number of the youth with skills to enhance their employability if am elected” he stated.
“When I declared my intention to contest, some people thought that I was just joking and that I would collect money from other contestants and abandon my dream, but I want to assure you that I am in it for the long haul.
Mr Antwi said he boast of a ‘solid’ team on the ground working hard to maintain the momentum and leave nothing to chance.
He expressed concern that the Sunyani East constituency and the broader Sunyani area have diminished in stature due to the absence of substantial developmental initiatives.
The deteriorating condition of Sunyani’s roads characterised by potholes, the neglected regional library and absence of a sports stadium for the constituency would be my priority.
“The youth needs someone to provide them with leadership, offer them employable skills, hence the plan to establish a youth development centre where majority of them would be trained.
There would also be a dedicated office to receive the people and hold regular Town Hall meetings to share ideas from the people to help push forward to constituency’s development agenda.
In all of these, financial support remain a biggest challenge faced by his campaign team because everybody wants to wear his T-shirts and other paraphernalia.
“This comes as a huge cost,” he added.
Challenges
Coming into a contest like this also has a few challenges which Mr Antwi is trying very hard to deal with.
“Some of the people think that I am a rich person because I am a businessman. Others also think that once I am contesting for the election, I have a lot of money to spend and they must come for their share.
But that, according to him, was certainly not the case.
“I’m working within my means. I have some little donations I received from some people who believe in this course to pull through.
Business
Mr Antwi is the owner of Sun-city radio, one of the most popular radio stations in the region. He also owns a fleet of businesses.
Business aside, Mr Antwi is passionate about doing philanthropic work. Through his Sun-city outreach team, he has been able to liaise with some medical doctors to organised health screening for the aged to deal with health complications such as hernia, glaucoma and general health issues in the constituency and beyond.
As a football enthusiast and highly connected figure in football circles, the Sunyani East constituency parliamentary aspirant said he used his influence to secure kit sponsorship for the senior national team in the past.
He was part of a team that hired the services of Ratomir Djokovic from Serbia who supervised Ghana’s qualification to its first World Cup in Germany in 2006.
He is a staunch supporter of BA United, Asante Kotoko and Manchester United of England.
Education
Mr Antwi completed the St Patrick’s Middle School in 1987 and continued to Twene Amanfo Senior Technical High/Sunyani Senior High for his A Level Certificate and completed in 1993.
He had his National Service with the Bono Regional Hospital before proceeding to the Institute of Management Studies in Kumasi where he obtained a Diploma in Business Management.
He later worked with MTN Ghana before venturing into private business.
Family
He is the first born of children to the late Stephen Kwame Antwi and Madam Helena Dankwa.
Mr Antwi and his family at Manchester United stadium UK
Mr Antwi is married to Sufura Mohammed Suraj with whom they are blessed with four beautiful children – Emily Dankwa Antwi, Denise Antwi, Ransford Kofi Antwi and Zara Afia Kuruwaa Antwi.
His favourite meal is fufu with groundnut soup.
Mr & Mrs Antwi
Advice
He advised the youth to stay focused as they work towards realising their dreams.
According to him, the future of this country rests in the arm of the youth so it was important for any government to formulate policies that would ensure their development.
Mr Antwi also encouraged the youth to shun acts that would plunge their various communities into chaos, especially with elections approaching.
By Daniel Dzirasah, Sunyani