Prof. Bill Buenar Puplampu has been inducted into office as the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Central University (CU). He becomes the fourth chief executive officer and 2nd Vice Chancellor of the University since its establishment 19 years ago.
He takes over from Prof. Kwesi Yankah who resigned his position to take up appointment as Minister of State-in-Charge of Tertiary Education.
Until his appointment, Prof Puplampu was the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Central University.
Chancellor of the University, Rev Dr Mensa Otabil, who chaired the induction, charged the new Vice Chancellor to pursue and champion the Christian agenda inculcating ethical values into products of the university while working at making Central University a citadel of knowledge and development in a society.
“As you assume the reigns of leadership, we believe that you will champion the distinctly Christian agenda and nature of this institution, an experiment we have been working at but not fully achieved as yet. We hope that you will try to answer the difficult but critical questions of how we can become and remain a Christian University,” he said.
The chancellor further advised the new vice-chancellor to uphold the academic integrity of the university.
“As you continue with your work, remember that the knowledge creating function of the university must not be pursued to the detriment of other priorities, and that balance and sagacity are critical for the success of the academic enterprise like our own,” he noted.
Dr. Mensa Otabil also paid glowing tributes to the pioneering leaders of the university for their devotion and selfless service.
“Slowly but surely, we are establishing a tradition of continuity and order as we work to become a world class institution of learning with great culture,” he said, adding that “Central University has been greatly blessed over the years in the sense that God has sovereignly orchestrated the appointment of the right leader at each of the University’s various stages of growth.”
The induction, held at the Miotso campus of the university, Accra, was attended by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Rev Dr Joyce Aryee, Hon Stephen Asamoah Boateng, some current and former Vice-Chancellors of Universities in Ghana, and the Presbytery of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC). It was also witnessed by hundreds of people from across the country.
Handing over the baton of office to the new VC, the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Prof Kwesi Yankah, expressed his commitment to support the university at all times.
He was grateful to the University Council, staff and students for the opportunity to serve as vice-chancellor.
“Central University introduced me to private sector and faith based University administration. CU opened up to me the opportunities that currently drive my professional life and I am grateful” he said.
Prof. Bill Puplampu in his induction bemoaned the near absence of policy direction regarding the development of appropriate human capital, and higher education needs of the country going into the future. “Ghana seems to have moved through a variety of reforms, experiments and explosion in a deregulated educational space” he stated adding that “we have a situation where we are over producing certain types of skills (leading to unemployment of graduates) and grossly under producing others.
“It is perhaps an indictment of our educational policy”, he indicated and stressed that any higher education reform, regulatory realignments, and accreditation options must be a deliberate intervention in a futuristic direction for our Human capital agenda.
Story: Kwamena Ananse