Kwesi Yankah
Kwesi Yankah | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Tertiary Education | |
| President | Nana Akuffo-Addo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ghana |
| Political party | New Patriotic Party |
| Relations | Kojo Yankah(brother) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Indiana University |
| Profession | Academic |
Kwesi Yankahis aGhanaianacademic, author, and university administrator. He is a professor of linguistics and oral literature specializing in the ethnography of communications. He has served as thePro-vice-chancellorof theUniversity of Ghanaand the president of theCentral University.The author of several books, he was inducted as a fellow of theGhana Academy of Arts and Sciencesin 1999. He is currently the Ghanaian Minister of State in charge oftertiary education.
Education and working life
[edit]Kwesi Yankah doctoral thesis earned him the Esther Kinsley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation atIndiana University,United States.[1]He spent most of his working life in academia and lectured at theUniversity of Ghana.He held several positions in the university, where he was dean of students of the university as well as dean of the Faculty of Arts and head of Linguistics Department. His last position at the university was that ofpro-vice-chancellorfor academic and student affairs. In September 2011, he succeeded ProfessorVictor Gadzekpoas the president of theCentral Universityin Ghana.[1]Yankah'ss appointment coincided with Rev. Prof.Addow Obeng's appointment as Central University's pro vice chancellor. Yankah served as the university president until March 2017, when he was appointed a minister of state.[2]
During his working life, Yankah also contributed to several newspapers, among themThe MirrorandCatholic Standard.He has authored many books, includingSpeaking for the Chief: Okyeame and the Politics of Royal Oratory.[3][4]
Affiliations and memberships
[edit]Yankah has been Senior External Advisor, Center for Local Strategies Research,University of Washington,and a Member of the Policy Working Group, African Presidential Archives and Research Centre,Boston University.[1]In 1999, he was elected Fellow of theGhana Academy of Arts and SciencesinAccra.He served a three-year term as the Honorary Secretary of the academy from 2003.[1]
Awards and honours
[edit]In July 2016, Yankah was honoured at the 2016 Africa Summit for his contribution to education in Ghana and his contribution to Africa's development.[5]
Minister of State
[edit]In March 2017, Ghana PresidentNana Akufo-Addonominated him as a Minister of State in charge oftertiary education.[2][6][7]Yankah appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on 27 March 2017. During his vetting, he made it clear that he was not just a sympathizer of theNew Patriotic Party,but had for years been a registered member.[8]He told the committee that if confirmed, he would introduce new courses in public universities, as most of their curricula was getting outdated. He pledged to ensure that universities remained true to their core mandate of knowledge exchange rather than the new paradigm which sought to actively engage in revenue generation ventures.[1]
He was approved by theParliament of Ghanaand took hisoath of officein April 2017. He has been actively engaged in the planning and implementation of theFree SHSPolicy of the Akufo-Addo administration.[9]Yankah is credited with writing the title song for the government's Free SHS policy.[10][11][12]
Personal life
[edit]Yankah is married, with three children. He is the brother ofKojo Yankah,who served as Member of Parliament and a Minister under the government ofJerry John Rawlingsof the NDC.[13][14] Kwesi Yankah is a member of theCatholic Church in Ghana.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcdef"Prof. Yankah Heads Central University".GhanaWeb.30 November 2001.
- ^ab"Prof Kwesi Yankah nominated as Minister of State – Ghana Business News".Ghana Business News.2017-03-15.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"Speaking for the Chief".Indiana University Press.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"Speaking for the Chief: Okyeame and the Politics of Akan Royal Oratory:Speaking for the Chief: Okyeame and the Politics of Akan Royal Oratory".ResearchGate.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"Prof. Kwesi Yankah to be Honoured at African Summit (press release)".Central University.RetrievedDecember 4,2017.
- ^MLCL-MoE."MoE|Our Team".MOE Government Of Ghana.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-11-14.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"Kwesi Yankah nominated Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education".15 March 2017.Retrieved13 November2017.
- ^Tornyi, Emmanuel."Ministerial Nominee: I am a card bearing member of NPP – Prof Kwesi Yankah".Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"We anticipated Free SHS challenges – Prof. Yankah".Citi FM Online.13 September 2017.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"I wrote Free SHS song – Kwesi Yankah".GhanaWeb.15 September 2017.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^Abedu-Kennedy, Dorcas (2017-09-15)."HOT AUDIO: Official Free SHS song composed by Minister of State, Prof Kwesi Yankah - AdomOnline".AdomOnline.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"Free SHS Song: I wrote the lyrics – Kwesi Yankah".GhanaCrusader.2017-09-15.Retrieved2017-11-14.
- ^"Human Blood at Prof. Yankah's House".30 November 2001.
- ^"Yankah versus Yankah".5 October 2018.