3 Kufuor Scholars elected student leaders at University of Ghana and KNUST

Three Kufuor Scholars have been elected to student leadership positions at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Ghana.

Deborah Aku-Shika Mensah, a member of the Kufuor Scholars Program (KSP) Class of 2023 has been elected President of the Ghana Association of Disability and Rehabilitation Students (GADRES), after she won with 79.05% of votes cast. She becomes the first female president of the association of students reading Disability and Rehabilitation Studies.

She says her training as a Kufuor Scholar motivated her to contest for the role. “As a Kufuor Scholar, I have undergone training that has shown me a whole different perspective of what a true leader is through multiple impactful lectures. I was motivated to bring good leadership and positive change to the association,” she explained in an interview.

“I strongly believed I could do the job and even better. KSP Coordinator Dr Pascal Brenya and my fellow scholars helped me identify my capabilities,” she noted.

Mensah says some people doubted her capabilities but she persevered. “It was not easy getting there. Some people thought it was rather wise that my vice, who is a male holds the office and I'd assist him. Showing my people why it shouldn't be that way was my biggest challenge,” she explained.

“There was no backing out although sometimes I felt like quitting was the solution,” she added.

Mensah is promising effective leadership. “I am certain my colleagues have high expectations and some still have doubts. But the goal is to put GADRES where it belongs; to impact the world. Create awareness, challenge the system, the government, the health care system, the social setting, and the educational setting...,” she explained.

“One lesson I have learnt from the scholars’ program is that passion without action is just a mere sentiment… I believe Ghana can become the Ghana that we want. We just have to take individual action towards it,” she concluded.

Another scholar Benedict Kofi Amofah has also been elected Financial Secretary of the Association of Geomatic Engineering Students (AGES). He won 91.90% of the total votes cast in the elections.

Amofah says leadership training gained as a scholar motivated him to stand for the position. “My motivation came from leadership training experience I'm having at the John A. Kufuor Foundation. I’ve learnt I want to be an outstanding leader who is dedicated to service,” he explained.

“The training enhanced my public speaking and self-confidence and assertiveness… It also taught me to ensure service with Integrity and accountability… Above all, I learnt to defy the odds and be a leader who can ensure positive change anywhere I find myself,” he said.

Amofah is promising to provide excellent service to his colleagues with transparency, accountability, reliability, and accurate financial information as the hallmarks. “This is a platform to make impact in the leadership portfolio to the glory of God,” he said.

Current President of the Kufuor Scholars Program (KSP) University of Ghana Chapter Elizabeth Dansoa Osei has also been elected Treasurer of the Political Science Students Association (POSSA). She won 60% of the total votes cast by members.

“When we visited grandpa (former President John Kufuor) before the elections, he encouraged me and said something which actually acted as the trick to win this election. He said; Dansoa, go to the people, tell them why you want to serve them and if they do elect you, don’t let them down,” Osei recounts.

“KSP has taught me that part of being a person is to impact lives and to serve. I have always believed that only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. This is my motivation,” she noted.

“To all POSSA members and my colleague scholars, I say I can’t do everything, but I believe I can still do something. And because I know I can do something, I would never refuse to do the very best that I can do,” she added.