Ahwoi Dedicates Promotion To Rawlings

One of the country’s experts in decentralisation, Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, has been appointed professor by the Academic Board of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

His promotion comes after a review of his research and academic work, as well as several publications in his area of expertise and recommendations made for his promotion.

In an exclusive interview, Prof Ahwoi, previously a principal lecturer of the Graduate School of Governance, Leadership and Public Management (SGL&PM), GIMPA, dedicated the promotion to the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings.

He explained that having studied Law, he was settling for a career in Law when, in 1988, with no experience in decentralisation, he was appointed by Flt Lt Rawlings to oversee the Ministry of Local Government.

“For 12 years I applied myself,” he told the Daily Graphic, and that was the turning point in his career that resulted in his expertise in decentralisation being sought for not only nationally but also internationally.

Prof. Ahwoi said he wanted his elevation to be symbolic of what the NDC was capable of inspiring in its supporters.

His appointment takes effect from February 1, 2011.

He began his academic career as a Senior Lecturer of the SGL&PM, GIMPA, from September 2005 to May 2008 when he was appointed principal lecturer.

His teaching experience involves tutelage in Jurisprudence, Commercial and Business Law, Public Administration, District and Local Government Administration and Decentralisation and Local Government Administration.

His publications include several seminal ones that have been founding texts on the country’s decentralisation system and published by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as well as the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), such as “Management of Local Government Reforms,” July 1996 and “The Constitution of the Fourth Republic and the Local government System, August/September, 1992.

He has also received various awards, including Officer of the Order of the Volta (O.V.) of Ghana in 1997 and the World Habitat Day Scroll of Honour in Dalian, China in 1999.

Prior to that, Prof Ahwoi had various work experiences as an editorial writer of the Daily Graphic on long vacation in 1974 and 1975 and later became the features writer for the same paper in the same year.

He lectured at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, until his appointment in 1982 as part of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government.

He is a product of the Okuapeman Secondary School, Akropong Akwapim, and Opoku Ware School in Kumasi.

After holding the portfolio of Minister of Local Government for 12 years, Prof. Ahwoi was also responsible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from April to December 1997 and Minister for Economic Planning, Regional Co-operation and Integration from January 2000 to January 2001.