A flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party and former Minister of Railways Redevelopment, Joe Ghartey has received a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree honours from the University of Mines and Technology for his contribution to the Railways Redevelopment and the establishment of the Railway School campus of the University of Mines and Technology.
The MP of Essikadu-Ketan was decorated with the honorary degree at the 14th Congregation ceremony of UMaT in Tarkwa where 89 graduands received postgraduate degrees, 545 Bachelor of Science degrees and 109 Diplomas and Certificates in their respective engineering programmes.
Addressing the 14th UMaT Congregation ceremony, the Vice Chancellor of UMaT, Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah, congratulated Joe Ghartey for his distinguishing role as the pioneering Minister of the Railways Redevelopment Ministry and his contribution to the established of the Railways School.
“As the Pioneer Sector Minister for the Ministry of Railways Development, you did extensive work to revamp Ghana’s previously defunct railway sector in order to provide cleaner alternatives and also reduce the high-density road traffic congestions and freight transportation and also initiated the construction of a 3800km rail network.”
”Of direct significance to the University, in 2018, you spearheaded the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Railways and Development and the University of Mines and Technology to transform the Railway Training School (RTS) into an accredited institution of higher learning for the award of certificates and diplomas/degrees. This collaboration transformed the RTS into the UMaT School of Railway and Infrastructure Development(SRID) situated at Essikado, Sekondi…For your statesmanship, meritorious to academia and more so your support towards the development of the railway industry in Ghana, the University of Mines and Technology confers on you Doctor of Science (DSc) honoris”, he noted.
Touching on the graduating students, the Vice Chancellor of UMaT said a total of 133 students representing 24% of the graduating class obtained First Class Honours at the 14th Congregation, therefore congratulated them and advised them to be impactful to society.
“As you transition to the next stages of your lives, please do well to project the values of Knowledge, Truth and Excellence. As you move out, please identify some of the many problems in our society and solve at least one significant problem for which reason society will remember you“, he added.
On the achievements of UMaT over the year, Prof. Amankwah congratulated the university’s Petroleum Engineering Team for winning the Gas Challenge Cup on three consecutive times.
He attributed the successes of UMaT to infrastructure support and resources hence thanked government and the university’s sponsors, especially the Ghana Chamber of Mines as well as the MIIF for their continuous support.
Excelling graduands received various prizes with Shadrack Kwasi Nuamah who obtained a CWA of 88.08%, from the Department of Mining Engineering adjudged as the Overall Best Graduating Student Award and received a certificate, a cash prize of GH¢2,000.00 and a Laptop.
Dr. Y. Y. Ziggah also received the Vice Chancellor’s Outstanding Performance Award as a promising young academician for his numerous research publications took home a certificate, laptop and a cash prize of GH¢10,000.
Meanwhile, the best workers award for the year went to Richmond Amoah for the Senior Staff Category, and Joseph Woode for the Junior Staff category. They also received a citation and a cash prize of GH¢2,500.00 each
