Joe Anokye Starts Delivering12th R.P. Baffour Memorial Lectures at KNUST

23rd November, 2023: The Director General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Joe Anokye is delivering the 12th R.P. Baafour Memorial Lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

The lectures, established in honor of the first Ghanaian Vice Chancellor of KNUST, is being delivered under the broad theme, “KNUST After 70: A New Age for A Renewed Focus In An Era of Disruptive Technologies”.

Mr. Joe Anokye, Director General of the NCA delivering his first lecture at the event

In the first of three lectures, Mr. Anokye, a Geodetic Engineer and an alumnus of KNUST spoke under the the sub-theme, “KNUST, a history of remarkable growth in science and technology education, resilience and adaptability in the digital space”.

Mr. Anokye recounted the establishment of KNUST and the various high points since its establishment to add up to the advancement of education and Ghana’s science and technology space. He acknowledged the role of KNUST in that regard while singling out alumni such as Kofi Annan, Professor Francis Allotey, Dr. Thomas Mensah, Ibrahim Mahama, the Tamale-born artist, and various past Vice Chancellors for the introduction of various programmes that have placed KNUST on the world academic map.

According to Mr. Anokye, “the illustrious legacy of KNUST is not merely anchored in its academic and infrastructural triumphs but is brought to life by the luminaries it has produced over the years”. Their success stories, he added, are testament to the academic rigor and holistic grooming that KNUST prides itself in.

Mr. Joe Anokye sharing some pleasantries with the, Vice Chancellor of KNUST,
Prof . Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson after the first lecture.

The NCA boss also touched on Ghana’s telecommunications growth over the past decades starting from the days of the use of smoke signals and gong-gong beaters through various advancements including the introduction of postal services, telegram usages and the coming in of broadcasting amongst others.

In concluding his first of three lectures, Mr. Anokye said “as we pivot from honoring the remarkable 70-year legacy of KNUST, we seamlessly weave into the theme: “KNUST After 70: A New Age for a Renewed Focus in an Era of Disruptive Technologies”. The onus rests on us to rekindle Dr. R. P. Baffour’s flame of visionary leadership, ensuring that KNUST remains illuminated, guiding not just Ghana but the entire African continent into an era where technology is not just adopted, but innovated, understood, and pioneered, here, within our revered walls”.

Mr. Anokye’s second lecture will be titled “Ghana’s Digitalisation Drive, a response to the New Age of Disruptive Technologies”. This will be delivered on Thursday afternoon and the last lecture will be themed “KNUST, a Renewed Focus in the Era of Disruptive Technologies”.

A group Picture of Mr. Joe Anokye, Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof . Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson and some dignitaries

A cross- section of participants at the event

About R.P. Baafour Memorial Lectures

The R.P. Baffour Memorial Lectures were inaugurated in 2012 to commemorate the life and contributions of Dr. Robert Patrick Baffour. The lectures are designed to promote scholarly debate on issues of national and international importance.

Dr Baffour was a Ghanaian engineer, politician, and university administrator who served as the first Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology from 1961 to 1967. He was also a pioneer in engineering education in Ghana. Robert Patrick Baffour (a.k.a. Papa Andoh) was born on 14 May 1912 in Elmina. His father was in the service of the British Civil Service in Nigeria as a Master of Schools. He was the first-born son of Robert Patrick Baffour Andoh and Maria Frederica Adwoa Kane (Okai).

Between 1917 and 1926, Baffour attended various schools in Ghana and Nigeria: Catholic School in Elmina, Okar Government School in Nigeria and Richmond College.

Baffour attended the Mfantsipim School and obtained the Cambridge Senior School Certificate with exemption from London Matriculation. After secondary school, he achieved the singular honour of coming first in the Civil Service Examination of his time.

Yet instead of joining the British Civil Service, he chose to continue his education at Achimota College to study engineering, where he was taught by Charles Deakin, a founding engineering instructor at the school. He became the first Ghanaian to obtain a University of London degree in mechanical engineering on Ghanaian soil.