Dr. Amakye-Boateng is with the Political Science Department, KNUST. Few weeks ago, he spoke with Asempa fm (94.7)and tried to design a criteria for leadership of developing economies in Africa. And that was not the first time.
Firstly, Dr. Amakye-Boateng speculated that, “Kennedy Agyapong, socially, traditionally, and intellectually is not a presidential material’. He would have brought out the intellectual in him and done us good if he had tried to explain to his listeners the following:
1. Who is a presidential material?
2. How are the indicators he has mentioned, (socially, traditionally and intellectually) used to measure a presidential material.
3. Where do we have in Africa (past and present), examples of presidents who have met such criteria.
Secondly, and this is more disturbing than any academic can imagine. Dr. Amakye-Boateng speculated that “when you go into the literature of development, especially that bother on the development of poor countries, there is one key argument about leadership… and that political leadership in such countries, must be knowledgeable generally and at least in economics.” I find this statement very disturbing not only because Dr. Amakye-Boateng is a lecturer, should know better and avoid propaganda, but more importantly, that there is no literature in development sociology, development economics, and political development, that concludes that, the development of poor countries depends on the leadership with knowledge in economics.
I therefore, challenge Dr. Amakye-Boateng, to be an academic and not a propagandist, to provide the literature he mentioned, and the key argument that concludes that the development of poor countries depends on leadership who should be “knowledgeable generally, and at least in economics”.
Failure to do so, is to apologize to Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, his countless admirers and adherents, your students who believe in you because you are an academic, and, to the general Ghanaian public for such a deceptive, inaccurate and misleading argument.
Dr. Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya
Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, Legon.
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