Post-graduate Students receive Special Awards

Three post-graduate students at the Institute of African Studies(IAS) University of Ghana, have been given the newly instituted annual Joseph Agyeman-Duah Award for African Studies.

They are Rev. Mark Darko, Mr. Benjamin Kwansah and Ms. Ofosuhemaa Akoto. Each received $200 (U.S. dollars) to finish their Master of Philosophy(MPhil) thesis while the IAS received $100 for reception for the awards.

Making the presentation in Accra, the Director of the Institute, Professor Takyiwaa Manuh, commended Mr. Ivor Agyeman-Duah, a Ghanaian journalist and diplomat in the United States, for instituting the award as a memorial for his late father, Joseph Agyeman-Duah , who was once a Research Fellow at the Institute.

She said although the money was just a token, she hoped the good intention behind it would inspire the students to work assiduously to finish their thesis on time.

That, Prof. Manuh said, would be enough motivation for Mr. Agyeman-Duah and other would-be philanthropists to continue to support both the Institute and its students.

"I hope the spirit of philanthropy will remain and inspire other to support as well" she said.

The students thanked the IAS and Mr. Agyeman-Duah and promised to live up to expectations.

The Joseph Agyeman-Duah Prize in Africa studies, run by its foundation, was established last year with some proceeds from the award-winning book Between Faith and History: A Biography of J.A. Kufuor written by Ivor Agyeman-Duah