Kumasi, Aug 6, GNA – Bishop William Lockhart, ambassador of the World Conference of Mayors in the United States of America, on Friday held discussions with authorities of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on how best the conference could be of assistance to the university.
Bishop Lockhart said he had been asked by the Mayors Conference, which involves about 433 black mayors, was particularly interested in education and health, adding that one of its major aims is to help alleviate poverty in Africa and the transfer of technology to the mother continent.
He said Ghana has been selected on a pilot basis and Kumasi as the headquarters of its operations, adding that the success of the Ghana story would enable the Conference to spread to other parts of the country.
He said the Federal Express (FEDEX), one of America’s leading courier carriers, had agreed to transport whatever materials the conference would consign to Ghana and therefore hoped that the university would take advantage of the opportunity being offered and act accordingly.
Mr Kofi Gyebi, Corporate Affairs Manager of the Integrated Committee for Ghana and Africa, explained that the committee had been put in place to ensure that things sent to beneficiaries were properly utilised.
He said this became necessary when some Ghanaians abused the opportunity offered them by the Conference and therefore asked the university authorities not to have any doubts about the sincerity of the offer.
Professor J.S.K. Ayim, Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, conceded that if the university took advantage of the offer, there was no doubt that it would transform it completely. He, therefore, asked Deans of the various faculties to take advantage of what was being offered and draw up a list of their needs for onward transmission to the Conference.
Prof. Ayim gave the assurance that nothing would be diverted and that anything that was sent would be put to the use for which it was intended.
He also allayed the notion of the delegation that the authorities were sceptical about the genuineness of the offer, saying it was the nature of universities to be conservative so as to be sure that whatever they did was right.
