91 Graduate from GIMPA

12/05/08
Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Stephen Adei, has charged the government to take advantage of the global food shortage to double the country’s food production.
That, he said, could be achieved with good combination of policies including selective subsidies on initial capitalisation on production of rice, for example.
Prof. Adei made the call at the sixth congregation of GIMPA in Accra at the weekend.
Ninety-one graduands received various degrees, comprising Executive Master of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, Master of Public Administration, Executive Master of Public Administration, Master of Governance and Leadership, Executive Master of Governance and Leadership and Master of Development Management.
The graduands included Members of Parliament, captains of industry, public servants and chief executives of civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations.
On food shortage, Prof. Adei said if the rains went as predicted “we may have good harvest of local produce to cushion us”.
He noted that the country was not insulated from the pressures of imported inflation and pressures arising from the global food shortage and the unprecedented rise in oil prices.
He, therefore, cautioned the public “not to play games with these so we can find collective solutions to them”.
“I do not want to dwell on what could have been done such as hedging against oil price increases but as a nation we cannot sit down or wait for others to find solutions for us,” he stressed.
Prof. Adei commended the government for not pumping money into the system for short-term political gain.
However, he said, there was some evidence that the budget “could be in trouble”.
Prof. Adei said already inflation had inched up significantly.
That, he said, called for both fiscal and monetary policy authorities to work in tandem to ensure sustained prudent economic management.
“I believe in Ghana. I believe that our current political process will produce a good leader for Ghana this year. I believe we will weather the current national and global challenges,” he said.
Touching on leadership, Prof. Adei urged Ghanaians to work on their own performance and attitude and refrain from “cut throat” competition with others.
He said what GIMPA had sought to do in the recent past was to provide unique opportunity for the leadership of the country to add value to themselves and through them bless the nation with continuously improving management at all levels.
The Chief Executive of the Ghana Shippers’ Council, Mr Kofi Mbiah, who was the guest of honour, commended GIMPA for providing well-class leadership training in the country.
He, however, asked the authorities of GIMPA to maintain the balance between change and continuity in their expansion drive, in order not to sacrifice excellence.
Mr Mbiah urged GIMPA to adapt their programmes to the needs of industry, and challenged the graduands to keep updating themselves with the ever-growing globalisation.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Jirapa and the Course Leader, Mr Edward Salia, noted that there would be more pressure on the facilities of GIMPA due to the increase in the number of students and the variety of courses offered.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to support GIMPA with the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to meet its growing challenges.