Commencement 2014 address by Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, 
CEO, Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications. 
21st June, 2014

I should thank you, President Awuah, for the privilege of having me as your Graduation Speaker on the 10th Graduation ceremony of Ashesi. I feel deeply honoured.

I have followed the “ashesi” of Ashesi – the beginnings of this college and its progress over these years. I had the privilege of speaking to students eight or nine years ago in your modest facilities in Labone, as well as on this refreshingly beautiful campus more recently. I even brought an old friend from Morehouse College in Atlanta to tour with his family earlier this year. It’s a lovely place. When I grow up, I’d like to be a student at Ashesi. 

More significantly, the quality of graduates who have been through Ashesi are comparable to the top tier in many parts of the world. And this is not just because of what they studied, but who they have – and will – become because they came through Ashesi, and Ashesi went through them. 

And so I say congratulations to you personally, President Awuah, and to your family for the personal sacrifices, including substantial financial resources, you invested right from the start to plant a seed whose fruits are people; these young people – leaders – for our society, for Africa, for the world, for today and for tomorrow. 

I must also congratulate your board, your faculty and staff for buying into your vision and playing their part in the heavy-lifting – class by class, student by student, mind by mind, day by day to make this dream take shape.  It’s been a tedious, difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible project but I believe that it shouldn’t be long before you are compelled by the success of this institution to change its name from Ashesi to “Awiei”: literally, The End, but in essence, The Fruition. The Harvest.

Harvest. That’s what brings us here today – the 2014 Harvest of over 100 young men and women ready, poised, at the doorway of the world to make the grand entry. It’s been four years of endless assignments and mind-twisting calculus and complex theories and tomes of literature. 

Congratulations! You made it! You are among a very select few who have this far! Only 80 per cent of children who attend basic-school stay to the end, according to the National Council of Tertiary Education. Of the 80, fewer than 20 per cent complete secondary school and only 2 per cent will subsequently enroll in a tertiary institution. It means over 4,000 of you finished basic school. However, only 1000 of you went on to complete high school, and of that it’s just a 100 of you who entered a tertiary institution. 

And, by the way, the grim statistics are only about enrolment. Quality is another story altogether. Half of the children in basic schools cannot read at all. In a study of 37,000 basic school children, only two per cent could read fluently and understand what they were reading. 

46 per cent – that’s close to half - of Ghanaian adults are illiterate. There are 10 doctors to every 100,000 people. Only a third of Ghanaians have pipe-borne water; in the Upper East Region, only seven out of every 100 people do. (Ghana Social Development Outlook 2012, by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research – ISSER)

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 16 million Ghanaians use unsanitary or communal latrines; we poo communally. Five million defecate in the open! And where we have flush toilets, we empty the solid waste untreated into the sea. Every day! Tonnes of it!

Combine all of this embarrassingly primitive toilet conditions with the lack of water, the absence of doctors and the illiteracy and ignorance, and you have a putrid, inflammable cocktail that manifest in funerals being a thriving industry. 

That’s why more than one in ten children born in the Upper East Region die before they are five. And that’s why your parents spend their weekends in black! The evidence of lack of access to quality basic and high school education is the young, hungry, desperate people in the streets; and the poor peasants you share these hills with; and those we blanketed in dust and the exhaust fumes our air-conditioned all-terrain capsules as they made their weary way to get another bucket of dirty water to drink. 

So well done [Class of 2014], but you have work to do. We, have work to do. Ghana, has work to do.

But if anybody can and must do it, if anyone can make things happen, then it’s you! It’s you because you didn’t drop out. It’s you because you are young and unencumbered and invincible. It’s you because you have been through Ashesi. And Ashesi has been through you.

And many of you are doing already. Take Leonard Annan; he’s initiated a project called Adesua Ye (Education is Good), an adult education programme which he is running here in the Berekuso community. 

Or George Neequaye with his “Pencils of Promise” project; they raise educational materials for deprived children in schools throughout Ghana.

If anybody can do it, if anybody can make things happen, it’s you, my young friends!

Ghana needs people with a heart! People like you.

Four years ago, MameHemaa, a 72-year-old woman, from Gomoa, travelled to Tema to find her son. She lost her way, and ended up in a house whose owner and her pastor concluded that she was a witch. They poured fuel on and set her alight. And nobody has paid the price for this act of barbarism. And journalists aren’t interested because MaameHemaa’s family is too poor to be of interest to them. Her son is not a “wealthy” businessman, and her daughter is not a big politician. 

A couple of months ago, Kwame Asare, a 23-year-old-man, was jailed 30 years in hard labour for stealing a mobile phone, a hand-bag and a piece of cloth – total value GHc180!

Yet, those whose actions are at the root of the desperation and the destitution of people like Kwame Asare roam unfettered and unquestioned, and in arrogant freedom. 

In November last year, the Prime Minister of Latvia, Valdis Dombrovski resigned when the roof of a super-market collapsed and killed 54 people. He said he took political and moral responsibility. 

In Germany, Christian Wulff resigned from the high office of President in 2009 because his friend was alleged to have paid for his hotel room and food – total value of 700 euros! He’s on trial for corruption! 

In our country no one takes responsibility for anything. And so we plunder to the accompaniment of brass-bands, and pay the victims to dance. We have sacrificed our moral compass and lost our sense of outrage. Our society is sick and the cure is people like you!

Ghana needs people who will speak up for the poor; people who will be the voice of the eternally stooped sheanut pickers of the Savannah, the weary and worn cocoa farmers of the south, and the fatigued and forlorn fisher-folk of our fouled beaches.

Ghana needs people who will ask questions and challenge our norms. Question the government; challenge the opposition; tackle the DCE; confront the MP! Ask the Assemblyman to show you what he or she has done for you and the community lately. Question your chiefs! Question your pastor. Why does he live in obscene opulence when members of the congregation wallow and rot in penury? Whilst Pope Francis washes and kisses the feet of the homeless and the destitute?

We need people like you with more than just a high IQ. We need you because you have a high EQ too – ethical quotient. Everyday, our newspapers are littered with mug-shots of employees who have been named and shamed and discarded by employers under bold disclaimers for offences too embarrassing for the companies to utter in public. Our country deserves citizens with some sense of shame.

Our country needs people who are not just out to make a living but are living to make a difference. We need people who go to work, to work.Where work is not a noun, but a verb; a doing word, not a place! 

Ghana needs people like you; people who are interested in knowing and following instructions as they are in understanding them; people who aren’t interested in someone else’s instruction manual because they stopped thinking inside the communal box; in fact, you’ve built your own box and it’s shaped like no other. And you have simplified it so there is no need for instructions. Ghana needs people who will innovate. People like you. 

Because the rest of the world is getting on with it; researching and developing and introducing new technologies and frontier-breaking applications that are over-turning the way we live and learn, and the way we work and play. The Internet of things is imminent: smart phones that turn on the lights at home; fridges that will alert you when you run out of eggs and milk; medicine with chips that tell the doctor you have taken your medication.

There are already chip-embedded cars that tell the ambulance when it’s in an accident; it automatically directs the emergency health service to the relevant location. Several manufacturers are testing driverless cars. There are cities in the UK and America that are ready to have them on their streets in 2015.

We have to be part of this brave new world. Berekuso, Hohoe, Gushiegu have to be connected too. We must work to prevent these two worlds from growing in parallel. We need them to converge. And you, our digital natives, are the bridge between the yesterday in which we currently continue to wallow, and the tomorrow in which others have already settled and live. 

You are our hope. Don’t settle for half-done. With the investment your parents have made in you, you cannot leave here and be an “also-run”. Anyone who has passed through Ashesi and through whom Ashesi has passed, cannot, and must not pass through life like just another blade of grass – unnoticed, indistinguishable and undistinguished, hardly deserving of a marked grave.

So get out, and like Maya Angelou or whoever your hero is – go out and leave your signature, your imprint, indelibly on the rocks of Time. And maybe, ten years from now when this college commemorates its 20^th graduating class, Ashesi will be spoiled for choice as to which one of you should be the guest speaker at the 2024 Graduation ceremony.

And, as Kofi Annan told a graduating class once, hey, don’t forget to have some fun along the way!

The Scholarship, Leadership & Citizenship Award is given on an annual basis to graduates who have lived out Ashesi’s core values during their time at the university. The award is presented by the President of the University, and students who receive the award are those that have contributed in outstanding ways to Ashesi’s mission, and have had a strong impact on the Ashesi Community. This is the highest award a student can receive at Ashesi.

George Sylvanus Niikoi Neequaye '14

George is virtually a powerhouse that never shuts down. Jack Welsh, former general manager of General Electric, said that positive energy is a key characteristic every great leader must have, and this recipient has it.

He has been an exemplary Ashesi ambassador throughout his time here. He spearheaded and helped sustain the Berekuso Student Scholarship scheme and the ASC Scholarship Fund. He started the Ashesi chapter for the Pencils of Promise organization, which put up a school for children in the rural area in the Volta Region. He even found the time to represent Ashesi and Ghana during a Semester at Sea program, where he shared our culture with people from around the world.

Making the time to do this while working part-time as a model for Heel the World and Afrochic and serving on the Ashesi Student Council, is no mean feat. When we take into account his academic record as a computer science student and his continuous engagement with our community, we recognize that he has been extra-ordinary.

Our exceptional volunteer, ambassador, and citizen. 

Ruweidatu Salifu '14

Ruweidatu is our ‘behind the scenes’ heroine who exudes Ashesi values.  

She has been quietly excellent, and a proper lady in every sense of the word. Meticulous and organized, everyone knows that once she is in charge of something, you can go to sleep assured that it will get done properly. Diligent and dedicated, committed and thorough.  

Her time on the Ashesi Student Council was marked with efficiency, culminating in a wonderful Ubora event which made the entire Ashesi community beam with pride.  As much as it was a team effort, she led her team, displaying the finest management skills; all for one of the best possible causes on campus.  Look out for her, as she is one of the students we expect great things from in years to come.

She is also one of the most creative individuals on campus; her paintings and photography attest to this. She has a great appreciation for the arts, and helped to build this culture in Ashesi in a myriad of ways; most notably through the annual A4-Idea talks, where students are given a platform to present their own ideas and express themselves. She is a model student who never rests on her laurels. She frequented the writing centre, determined to improve her communication skills, believing that excellence is a continuous process. 

Francis Delali Vorgbe '14 

Francis lives by the axiom ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’. A member of this year’s league winners, Walabele football club, he also played basketball and moved audiences with his spoken word performances during Floetry nights. He has been a dedicated, responsible and responsive student, whose desire to whip up enthusiasm for campus life and scholarly pursuits has been as contagious as his smile. 

This student was exceptionally bullish on participating in and growing Ashesi’s proud traditions; championing the university’s Honor Code system throughout his time here and always involving himself in our ASC Week Celebrations.  Crazy Day will never be the same without him or his classmates.

He was fortunate to present his thesis in front of learned professionals in his field during the Mobile Web Congress in Dakar, Senegal, as a humble and willing servant of our community. As a mentor and a tutor, he often encouraged current and prospective Ashesi students to believe that they and their projects could succeed.  This is an Ashesi leader who not only planted the ‘can-do’ seed in others but empowered them with the tools to achieve their goals whenever he could.  

Nananom, Mr President, Honourable Guest Speaker, the Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, family, friends and fellow students,

Pardon me if I am a little emotional this morning: today is very surreal. Yet, it is also a great day to be out (and I am not only talking about the weather). It is great, because - starting from today – we live in a world about to be forever changed by the powerhouse of potential, innovation and creativity that is my class; the class of 2015. What has begun cannot be undone. You can thank us later.

This world into which we are graduating is more troubled and complex than any of us could have started to imagine when we first walked onto this hill four years ago. Back then, we barely knew who we were and what we believed in, and few of us knew what we wanted to do, much less what we could do if we set our minds to it. We were thrown headfirst into an alien world with new rules and ways of thinking; new words like ‘honour code’, ‘critical thinking’, and ‘text & meaning’ filled us both fear and wonder. It was hard letting go of a lifetime of unproductive habits and conventional ideas, but we each tried as best as we could; not only to adapt to this brave new world, but to leave our mark on it.

The fun and games of our first few weeks were soon replaced by high stakes. We had a choice - ‘Sleep, Study or Socialize’ – and we soon learned that you could only choose two. It was common to hear us lusting after sleep, having stayed up to complete one assignment or another. At times, it felt like we would buckle under all the pressure, but there is something else that is also formed under high pressure. Four years ago, we joined Ashesi as lumps of coal, hopeful of being moulded into something better. Today we walk out of it like diamonds: valuable, and shining bright with potential.

The Class of 2015 may have worked hard, but we played hard too. Under our watch, something fun happened on campus almost every week… and it was usually accompanied by food. Just look at the businesses we created: Richard Odame’s Papaye delivery service, Sa’ams - our very own pizzeria - and Cups&Cones Desserts. Of course, Ashesi is not in the business of preparing leaders who entertain themselves and eat while others starve. And so our servant leadership seminars and our growing appreciation for society spilled beyond the bounds of our campus. We were inspired to create and take socially-minded initiatives like Santa’s Shoebox, the Berekuso Spelling Bee and Adesua Ye to the good people of Berekuso, with whom we form community. What good is your light if you do not share it with others?

Yet the world into which we now step is a dark one. We had our first glimpse of its complexity when we lost our dear friend and fellow student, Kenneth Kobby Narh, to illness in our first year of study. I shared many moments with Kenneth and so I speak from the heart when I say this and I doubt that anyone from our class will disagree: Kenneth represented the very best of this class. While the rest of us were learning how to combine learning, service and leadership, he naturally demonstrated all. I dedicate this speech to him, I am thankful to have met him and I continue to be inspired by him, as well as by all the other bright lights who - for one reason or another - will not be graduating with us today. Our lives are different for having met every last one of our fellow students and in us, they will always find friendship.

We remember our 147 brothers and sisters who were killed in the deadly terrorist attack on Garissa University College in Kenya in April. The media may have since moved on, but we must not. The students who died that day were no different than us, and it is our responsibility to meet the potential that they will never have the chance to live up to.

We also remember the needless passing of over 200 Ghanaians in the explosion at the Goil filling station in Accra earlier this month, as well as the unnamed many who drowned in the flooding that preceded the explosion. We must never forget, we must not let our media forget, and we must not let our leaders move on from this tragedy without making sure it never happens again. Our leaders emerge from amongst us, and if we want things to change then our society too must change. We must move from apathy, towards empathy; we must learn to care.

All over the world, winds of change are blowing and young people are standing up to demand something more than what the world currently offers. In North Africa, the tragic passing of one man – Mohammed Bouazizi – started the Arab Spring that set the region alight and lead to the toppling of many leaders. In America, the Occupy Wall Street movement demanded change in ways never seen before, and inspired similar movements across the world, including here on this continent. Some of you may ask, ‘what have they really changed’? But revolutions do not happen overnight. Change is a process. We are young now and we are learning about what it will take to change society. Wait and see what we do, when the mantle is passed to us.

Before we came to Ashesi, we felt – like many young people around the country – that politics was a word that described pointless bickering between adults. The word meant nothing to us and we wanted no part of it. We have since learned that politics is about things that affect us all. The nature of the road upon which you drove to get here is political. Terrorist attacks are political. Religious intolerance is political. The floods (and our seeming inability to do anything about them) are political. Our national power crisis is political. Yes, dumsor is political. Political parties are only a small part of the political process. Voting once every few years is only a small part of the political process. Politics is everything we do in our daily lives to improve or destroy this continent, and when we choose not to participate as active citizens in the process, then we cannot be surprised when our politics and our politicans work against us.

Ashesi has taught us to be active citizens and changemakers. To lead the change and be the light in this dark world. Here, we have learned that not only can we change the world, but we have an active responsibility to do so. We thank our parents for having the love and foresight to bring us here. We thank our teachers for opening our eyes, showing us our potential and training us to meet it. We thank Ashesi’s staff for everything they do to make our community what it is. Community is important and so we thank everyone – seen and unseen – who has been a part of the process that has led to this great day, including friends and supporters of Ashesi worldwide.

The Class of 2015 was the very first freshman class to climb this beautiful hill and today we become the first class whose entire Ashesi experience has taken place here. In doing so, we are the ambassadors of a new Ashesi: one more in control of its destiny than at any other time in our history. As it is with Ashesi, so shall it be with us.

I would like to end with the words of someone far more eloquent than me - the novelist, Toni Morrison - who once told her class, “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”

Class of 2015, this is what we have been trained for. Let’s show the world how it’s done.

Thank you.

Business Administration

1. Janice Mawuli Abalo (Cum Laude)
2. Diana Ewurabena Abraham
3. Khadija  Abukari
4. Kwesi Owoahene Acheampong
5. Estalynn Betty Achiampong (Cum Laude)
6. Frederick Acquah
7. Samuel Nii Saakwa Acquah
8. Harriet Adansi
9. John Ekow Addaquay
10. Wilfred  Adjartey
11. Daisy Dzifa Afflu
12. Sela Kwaku Agbakpe
13. Amma Asiedua Kissiedu Akoto
14. Abdul-Malik  Ali-Nakyea
15. Sandra Baake Aminarh (Cum Laude)
16. Fauziya Yen Anafo
17. Francine Tabbicca Anglow
18. Maame Kyerewaa Antwi
19. Rita Appiah
20. Nana Kweku Odum Arhin
21. Abena Asante (Cum Laude)
22. Theodore Philip Asare
23. Gabriel Amankwa Asiamah
24. Fred Kwaku Asiedu
25. Aaron Awinloya Ayamga
26. Christabelle Baako (Cum Laude)
27. Nana Ama Boa - Amponsem
28. Crystal Serwaah Boateng
29. Andrews Osei Bonsu
30. Paa Kwamina Daniels
31. Akosua Matilda Ofeibea Mteyi Dei-Anang
32. Ann Michelle Nana Amoakoa Duodu
33. Henrrietta Ama Dzisi
34. Abasimo Anthonia Edoho
35. Justina Sefakor Etteh (Cum Laude)
36. Efua Akyere Graham (Magna Cum Laude)
37. Abena Antwiwaa Gyekye
38. Portia Sedina Honu
39. Elikem Hottor (Cum Laude)
40. Isaac Danaa Jebuni
41. Grace Mwintero Johnson
42. Amina Kamara
43. Omar Jesse Khadi
44. Samuel Tetteh Korboe
45. Sharon Kpare
46. Ernestina Kuffour
47. Eric Agbesi Kuwornu
48. Samuel Nii Ayi Larmie
49. Samuel Anthony Longdon
50. Nathania Mante
51. Sihaam Amantani Mohammed Sayuti
52. Barikisu Muntari-Sumara
53. Moutia Murheb
54. Isaac Kwadwo Owusu Nkansah
55. Joseph Amo Nti (Cum Laude)
56. Precious Rita Rose Nyarko – Antwi
57. Abiola Ayodeji Obiwole
58. Melanie Nana Sama Ocran (Cum Laude)
59. Richard Odame
60. Karen Naa Dzama Odotei
61. Mona Odumang
62. Lawrence  Ofori-Darfour
63. Amanda Maame Ofosu-Siaw (Cum Laude)
64. Yaw Adu Ohene (Magna Cum Laude)
65. Deinwamosun Funmilola Okokuro-Francis
66. Jesse  Opoku-Asiedu
67. John Kojo Osei
68. Kwaku Ofori Osei-Ameyaw
69. John Kwaku Oteng-Nyame
70. Joseph Amoo Otoo
71. Princess Lady Kente Otutei
72. Akosua Serwaa Owusu Boamah
73. Sheila Plange (Cum Laude)
74. Jacqueline Yayra Esi Sewornu
75. Mohammed Rahmatullahi Sulleman (Cum Laude)
76. Lauren Lady Naa Norkor Tettey
77. Paa Kwesi Thompson
    
    

Computer Science

1. Nii Apa Anertey Abbey (Cum Laude)
2. Mohammed-Hanif Abdulai
3. Shamir Eyram Adjaku
4. Edem Anaglo
5. Stanley Makafui Anku
6. Cecil  Arthur
7. Isabel Dzifa Attu
8. Kingston Deladem Kofi Coker
9. Aba Amissah Debrah
10. Kutorkor Kotey-Afutu
11. Adekunle Tobi Ogundele
12. Michael Fiifi Quansah
13. Kpetermeni Toquoi Siakor
14. Peter Vanderpuye
15. Esi Yeenuwa Yeboah (Magna Cum Laude)

Management Information System

1. Worlanyo Winfred Adrah
2. Carl Yao Agbenyega
3. Niena Rahma Alhassan
4. John Adotei Allotey
5. Kirk Amoah
6. Chris Nana Ampadu
7. Rhoda Nana Akua Anokyewaa Appiah
8. Edwina Reynolds Baiden
9. Mawumefa  Banini
10. Benita Fafa Emefa Dorkenoo
11. Jonathan Elorm Dotse
12. Senanu Kwabla Fiam-Coblavie (Cum Laude)
13. Abdul Muhsin Iddris
14. Gloria Abena Boatemaa Karikari-Yeboah
15. Ernest Kuffour
16. Martha Adjoa Ataa Kumi
17. Felix Kwaku Kwakye
18. Sharon Mawuena Melomey
19. Susana Nanakyi Aku Ndede (Cum Laude)
20. Kwabena Gyekye Ohene-Bonsu
21. Ted Israel Tetteh Okpoti-Paulo
22. Winifred Naa Oyoo Quartey-Papafio
23. Nanette Mawuena Taylor (Cum Laude)
24. Phyllis Nana Ama Treve

The Scholarship, Leadership & Citizenship Award is given on an annual basis to three graduates who have lived out Ashesi’s core values during their time at the university. The award is presented by the President of the University, and students who receive the award are those who have contributed in outstanding ways to Ashesi’s mission, and have had a strong impact on the Ashesi Community. This is the highest award a student can receive at Ashesi.

Esther Yaa Pokua Addei '16
This student helped run a campaign on campus aimed at raising funds to support surgeries for children with brain tumors. Additionally, she helped start a volunteer programme, Starfish Aid, that saw her contributing to deprived communities in rural Ghana. Her collective service roles were a testament to her belief in taking action, no matter how small it seemed.

Determined to grow Ashesi’s commitment to a green campus for example, she helped lead a campaign that saw non-recyclable styrofoam packets being banned on campus for the first time ever. As a move that had previously been unpopular, she and her team’s ability to convince the entire student community to buy into this decision spoke to her ability to organize people around a common purpose.

She has been a quiet force on campus, in will and in faith, dependable and mature, especially when she served as a liaison for student-faculty-administration negotiations. And as the second woman in Ashesi’s history to become Student Government President, she has set an example for many more women to follow.

For so strongly representing the Ashesi ideals of Scholarship, Leadership and Citizenship, we present this award to Esther Yaa Pokua Addei.

Daniel Adae Bonsu '16
This student has been a binding agent all across campus, leading his peers to build the impact of several initiatives during his time as a student. As a great example of the transformative growth Ashesi hopes every student will achieve, this student stands tall. He has proven himself in multiple ways, and has had the Midas touch since his very first year.

Developing a remarkable skill for visual storytelling, he led a project that chronicled the impact stories and aspirations of young people across Ghana. He named it the “Troski Journal”, because he got his inspiration while commuting to and from his internship in a trotro. Again, he dramatically grew the influence of the Photography Club here on campus, and introduced its much recognised annual fundraiser event, Change Your DP. In his senior year, he helped rebuild the Ashesi chapter of Pencils of Promise, which helped raise support to build a school in rural Ghana. He has represented Ashesi on multiple platforms, including mentoring sessions at Senior High Schools, the Africa Innovation Forum in Morocco, and the Young African Leaders Initiative Tech Camp on civil engagement. In the midst of all of this, he found time to start a business with his roommates, Room 16 Creative Agency, which is here on campus today helping with our graduation multimedia. And even more remarkably, he made it here today with academic honours.    

There are not many students in Ghana, and as a matter of fact anywhere in the world, that can brag about getting a personal shout out from the photographer behind Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton; but this student can. For so strongly representing the Ashesi ideals of Scholarship, Leadership and Citizenship, we present this award to Daniel Adae Bonsu.

Dorcas Amoh Mensah '16
There are not enough words to describe this fiercely unassuming student. Deliberate in her subtlety, bold in her conviction-filled humility, joyful in her desire to serve in the wings or on the frontline. From freshman year until now, this student has continuously woven her way in and out of the classroom, in ways that are inspiring, and quietly dramatic.

Empathetic. Observant. Dependable. Diligent. Huge heart. Exceptionally thoughtful, she is gentle but firm, accommodating and thoughtful and always willing to think and engage along new lines, to be challenged and to learn. She is an outstanding student. In the words of a lecturer, “she is the most versatile, enterprising, resourceful, helpful, respectful, conscientious, meticulous and selfless student I have ever come across in Ashesi. She follows her heart while allowing others to be themselves without being judgmental.” Saying this much about her is actually counter intuitive, because she would shy away from this much praise.

Moving between the Kingdom Christian Fellowship to the Ashesi Student Council, from Starfish Aid to Future of Africa, from Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London to the Model African Union Debate in Oxford University, from the Career Centre to the Admissions Office. And now, from Berekuso to the world. A MasterCard Foundation Scholar who exemplifies the ethos of both Ashesi and The MasterCard Foundation. 

For so strongly representing the Ashesi ideals of Scholarship, Leadership and Citizenship, we present this award to Dorcas Amoh Mensah

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I want to begin by extending to you all, the President of Ashesi University, the Management, teaching and non-teaching staff, and most importantly the Class of 2016, the highest regards from my boss the Minister of Education, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who has been here on a number of occasions. She loves commencements at Ashesi University, but today, we have quite a number of assignments, and so she has asked that I extend to you her very warm regards and deepest congratulations to the graduating class.

For many decades and centuries, it had been believed that for a university to be of exceptional quality and high standards, that university must be a public university. Ashesi University broke that myth. Then it was also believed that for a university to make the global impact that Ashesi is making, that university had to be centuries old before you can begin to gain recognition. Once again, Ashesi University has defied that narrative. And it is on that note that I am so delighted to announce today that the interim assessment report that we have cited from the National Accreditation Board, points to one fact. That fact, is that for a certainty, before the year 2016 ends, Ashesi University is going to receive its Presidential Charter. This is a feat worth celebrating. Dr. Awuah, the people of this country are grateful that you did not give up. 

People like Dr. Awuah are rare, and we ought to support and encourage them anytime we get the the opportunity. This feat is one that has been achieved by exceptional hard work, exceptional dynamism, braving the odds, and remaining true to a cause and a vision that has been so well defined. Anytime we come here as workers at the Ministry of Education we see that this is an institution that continues to live that vision, and that is a vision which will transform this continent and the world. Today we celebrate an African Union graduation, and beyond, because I hear there is a graduand from China. It tells us that when we remain determined and committed to a vision, God will support us to achieve that vision. And people will come from all over the world to attest to that vision. So we are happy that we live in a country that has now carved a niche as a preferred destination for education in Africa. Those who doubt that have seen it today.

And beyond what is happening here today, the records available at the National Council for Tertiary Education, point to the fact that there are at least 13,000 foreign students from 60 different countries from all over the world studying in Ghana. There is something happening in higher education in Ghana, with our visionary, dynamic leaders like Dr. Patrick Awuah, who we ought to support and we ought to celebrate. Together they are building the next generation of leaders, scholars, entrepreneurs, inventors, and humanitarians who will lift this continent out of the shackles of poverty, ignorance and disease.

To the graduating class, may I add my word to what has been eloquently presented to you by Dr. Awuah – the need for you to go out there with courage. We are currently living in a world where there’s a lot of despair and a lot of frustration. Many countries are struggling to get a handle around what they should be doing moving forward. We have just seen this week that the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. Many analysts say that perhaps it’s a mistake, but as democrats, we ought to respect the decision of the voters of the UK. We are seeing how far-right parties are talking about taking their country back, and all kinds of interesting politicians and leaders are emerging all over the world, because of the pressures of globalization, threats of terrorism and mistrust for one another. It’s an era of uncertainty.

Should we open up and be all embracing, trust one another and pull together, or do we become isolationist and be stuck in our shells minding our own business? All of what we have heard today, I believe, should prepare us to not be daunted by current trends. Let us go out there believing that it is better to work together. We should go out there shuttering all prejudices, whether they be ethnic, national or religious. Let us believe in the good of every human being, and that we can work together. And I believe that is what Ashesi University has taught you, in your four-year stay here.

We should not be scared, we should not be afraid, and we should not mistrust one another. Let us work collectively, and in our unity there is nothing we cannot achieve. There is no force of evil out there that we cannot defeat.

Finally, let me assure you, that on my way here I have had discussions with the minister for roads and highways; in my interaction with Ashesi University officials, I know there are two issues that government has to pay attention to. Dr. Awuah has done his bit, we need to support the National Accreditation Board to grant your Presidential Charter, which is on course; and then we need to fix the Berekuso road. I want to assure you that, that road, from what I have been told by the sector Minister, has been programmed. And we are hoping that by the time we come here for the next graduation, we will see a different road, and we will see that progress has been made. 

Thank you very much for the opportunity to share in this happy occasion, and may I also thank our parents, guardians and sponsors, who have made it possible for people to achieve their dreams. To The MasterCard Foundation, and all those foundations and organisations, who are supporting families so that we can prepare the next generation of thinkers and leaders who will make our world a better place. We are grateful to all of you.

God bless you all, and God bless Ashesi University.

The 144 members of Ashesi University College Class of 2016 bowed out splendidly. Not only have they raised the standard for excellence in Ashesi, but on June 25th, 2016, they also shared with all of us, the most colourful commencement ceremony yet. For a day of awards, speeches, laughter, selfies and cool looking caps, essays and speeches may not do enough justice to the beautiful tapestry that the many parts of this day was.   

Pictures indeed bear within them unique and countless stories. Here are thirty pictures that attempt to retell the events of Ashesi's 12th Commencement ceremony.

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Good morning. I would like to read to you, two excerpts from the Epilogue of Jim Collin’s book Great By Choice. In it, he says:

"We sense a dangerous disease infecting our modern culture and eroding hope; an increasingly prevalent view that greatness owes more to circumstance, even luck, than to action and discipline- that what happens to us matters more than what we do. In games of chance, like a lottery or roulette, this view seems plausible. But taken as an entire philosophy, applied more broadly to human endeavor, it’s a deeply debilitating life perspective, one that we can’t imagine wanting to teach young people.  Do we really believe that our actions count for little, that those who create something great are merely lucky, that our circumstances imprison us? Do we want to build a society and a culture that encourage us to believe that we aren’t responsible for our choices and accountable for our performance?

Our Research evidence stands firmly against this view. This work began with the premise that most of what we face in lies beyond our control, that life is uncertain and the future unknown. And as we wrote …, luck plays a role for everyone, both good luck and bad luck. But if one company becomes great while another in similar circumstances and with comparable luck does not, the root cause of why one becomes great and the other does not simply cannot be circumstances or luck. Indeed, if there’s one overarching message arising from more than six thousand years of corporate history across all our research—studies that employ comparisons of great versus good in similar circumstances—it would be this: greatness is not primarily a matter of circumstance; greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline. The factors that determine whether or not a company becomes truly great, even in chaotic and uncertain world, lie largely within the hands of people. It is not mainly a matter of what happen to them but a matter of what they create what they do, and how well they do it."

He continues…

"When the moment comes – when we’re afraid, exhausted, or tempted – what choice do we make? Do we abandon our values? Do we give in? Do we accept average performance because that’s what most everyone else accepts? Do we capitulate to the pressure of the moment? Do we give up on our dreams when we’ve been slammed by brutal facts? The greatest leaders we’ve studied throughout all our research cared as much about values as victory, as much about purpose as profit, as much about being useful as being successful. Their drive and standards are ultimately internal, rising from somewhere deep inside.

We are not imprisoned by our circumstances. We are not imprisoned by crushing setbacks, self-inflicted mistakes or our past success. We are not imprisoned by the times in which we live, by the number of hours in a day or even the number of hours we’re granted in our very short lives. In the end, we can control only a tiny sliver of what happens to us. But even so, we are free to choose, free to become great by choice."