Ghana's Scientists Showcase Works

An exhibition on the contribution of science and technology to national development in the last 50 years is being held in Accra.

The week-long exhibition was organised by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with the Ghana @ 50 Secretariat as part of the country’s Golden Jubilee independence celebration.

Located at the Trade Fair site, it showcases the works of the country’s research and learned institutions.

Dubbed 'people-oriented exhibition,' it is intended to bring science and the application of technology in national development into the consciousness, experience and understanding of non-technical and non-scientific citizens, investors and entrepreneurs.

The exhibition tells the stories of scientific studies and the application of results obtained from them in development practices.

Therefore, in place of graphs and histograms, which are normally prominent in scientific presentations, the research and institutions of learning including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, have put on display samples and real specimen with which they have worked.

The exhibits include: models of biogas and biodiesel, glassware, indelible ink production, fuel cells, various computer software, solar powered traffic lights, food processing equipment, hydraulic systems, books for schools on many themes, packaging systems and rural rain water harvesting system.

Professor Daniel Adjei Bekoe, Chairman of the Council of State, who opened the exhibition, said, there is no doubt that the research and learning institutions have been very active during the country’s first 50 years of independence.

Unfortunately, he said, the public have not been informed sufficiently about the massive studies that the institutions of study undertake, the enormous contribution their research makes to national development and how some affect them on a daily basis.

Prof. Bekoe, a fellow of the Academy, called on the government to complete the construction of the National Science Museum for use as venue for the 'people-oriented exhibition,' which the organisers hope to institutionalise on an annual basis.

Dr. Leticia Obeng, president of the Academy, said the Academy organised the exhibition, which is on until October 28, in pursuance of its mandate to recognise outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and learning in Ghana.

The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences was established on November 27, 1959 by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, to among other things, promote the study, extension and dissemination of knowledge of all the sciences and of learning.