Professor Richard Kwasi Amankwa, was last Friday, sworn into office  as the third Vice Chancellor of University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa in the Western Region (UMaT), with a pledge  to   improve  sustainable  artisanal  small- scale  mining  and emergency response.

“UMat will not  only teach, but, also practise  what it taught  and requested the Minister of Land and Natural Resources  to provide a mineralised land for  the university to start the UMaT small scale  mine.”

Before his investiture the, Chairman of the Council, Dr Steve S. Yirenkyi,led the new VC to swear the oath of office and robedhim with the VC’s robe.

Prof. Amankwa , 54, who was the Dean, Faculty of  Integrated Management Science (FIMS), became a full  professor  in 2011.

He is a  distinguished, internationally  acclaimed scholar, a business-oriented academic, and  had   provided dedicated services for  Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and UMaT.

He  said: “This venture will  grow to become a model mine and a centre for training  artisanal  and small scale miners  in the -sub region with the best  practices   in resource optimisation and environmental  sustainability.In addition to the potential financial rewards of such a venture,we will create more revenue for industrial training  for our students and create employment for our gradates.”

“We can achieve these ideals and move towards becoming a centre of excellence  and hence the MIT of Africa that the Chancellor charged us  to do,if only we can build appropriate partnerships.”

Prof. Amankwaa indicated that his  vision was  to deepen scholarship, innovation and entrepreneurship in UMaT to drive sustainable industrial  development in Ghana and beyond and believed that “this will not be the VCs vision, but, our vision for the next four years, so that  together we can pursue the agenda with enthusiasm.”

He said, the vision,  carved  out of UMaT  strategic plan, would  be achieved through  impact-oriented teaching,  research  and extension services, improved   infrastructure, information communication  and technology, enriched  governance system and leadership, intensified financial resources mobilisation and management and enhanced  student experience and development.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, noted that UMaT had become an engine of growth and development  producing industry oriented graduates in engineering.

He said research  findings  put Ghana, a nation endowed  with rich  minerals, in a strategic  position as a global leader  in  mining, petroleum and allied  industries.

He said: “UMaT would continue to build the mindset  of students to be  more entrepreneurial and create the environment where they would be able to practice what they learn.

This  concept  is aimed at equipping graduates of the University with  the  capacity to  set up their businesses to be employers rather than employees.”

The President urged UMaT to team up with the Ministry  of  Lands and Natural Resources, other ministries  and the Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA) to develop skills and  technologies to transform small scale  mining  in Ghana and help sanitise galamsey, which was connected to illegal and irresponsible mining.

The Chairman of UMaT Council, Dr Steve  Yirenkyi, urged all stakeholders to join Prof .Amankwa to  build UMAT so that, it could fulfill its mandate of  training  worldclass professionals in the field of mining petroleum, technology and related disciplines for  the development of Ghana.

From Clement Adzei Boye, Tarkwa