H.E Festus Mogae, Former President of Botswana
The University for Development Studies (UDS) has conferred an Honorary Doctorate Degree on Mr. Festus Mogae, a former President of Botswana for his excellent leadership that brought about sustainable development in his country.
A citation accompanying the award recognised Mr. Mogae’s achievements in the fields of economics and development practice, while serving in various capacities as a public servant and subsequently as President.
Dr. Abdulai Baba Salifu, Chairman of UDS Council, who decorated Mr Mogae at a special congregation of the University in Tamale last Friday, described Mr. Mogae’s exceptional leadership qualities as inspirational and one that must guide all leaders in their attempts to achieve development.
The special congregation also saw the graduation of 82 newly trained medical doctors from the School of Medicine and Health Science of UDS and 53 others from the UDS Graduate School with Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Philosophy Degrees.
The conferment of the degree on Mr. Mogae was preceded by a three-day Africa Leadership Lectures series delivered by him beginning last Wednesday at UDS on the theme: “Challenges of Natural Resources Management in a Developing Country.”
The lecture, which was second in the series instituted by UDS in 2012, was intended to contribute to a national and transnational discourse on productive leadership culture that would support and enhance Africa’s development.
Mr. Mogae said he was humbled by the award, adding that he was happy to be associated with UDS.
Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur who was present at the ceremony, commended Mr Mogae for his achievements especially at promoting development in Botswana, saying African leaders would continue to learn from Mr Mogae’s achievements towards transforming the continent.
Mr. Amissah Arthur emphasised the importance of education in development and stressed the need for more efforts at achieving gender equity in tertiary education in the country.
He said last year’s statistics of 66 per cent males to 34 per cent females’ admissions to all public universities in the country must be reversed to ensure that more women had access to tertiary education.
He called on the National Council for Tertiary Education to intensify efforts at ensuring quality education in the country.
He pledged government’s continued support for UDS and urged the University to continue to come out with innovative programmes for the development of the country.
The Vice President said government would continue to resource healthcare training institutions in the country to improve the delivery of health services, and urged the new doctors to accept to serve in rural areas.
Professor Haruna Yakubu, Vice Chancellor of UDS called for a shift towards solar energy, which was cost-effective and more sustainable to help address the country’s energy demands.
Source: GNA
