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The President of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, Ing. Dr. Kwame Boakye has said that for Ghana to have sustainable development, political parties must inculcate into their manifestos Science, Technology, Engineering and Innovation (STEI).

Ing. Dr. Kwame Boakye said this when he delivered the 47th Presidential Address as the President of Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE) on Thursday, 17th November, 2016 at the Engineers Centre, Roman Ridge, Accra.

Speaking under the theme: “Ghana must embrace Science, Technology, Engineering and Innovation to achieve sustainable development”, the President of GhIE explained that most development problems are essentially engineering problems. Any war against poverty, disease, illiteracy and environmental degradation can succeed only by making use of STEI.

“In Ghana, much lip-service is paid to leveraging science and technology for national development. Yet, there is currently a poor appreciation of the importance of, and the benefits that STEI can deliver to the competitiveness of the economy and to national development in general”, he added.

Ing. Dr. Kwame Boakye recommended that there must be national agreement that our ambition as a country that aspires to become an upper middle income country requires a vision of development which fully applies and integrates STEI into national development strategies to achieve national objectives for poverty reduction, competitiveness of enterprises, sustainable environmental management and industrial growth.

“This must be a tenet of the National Development Planning Commission and be accepted as inviolate by all the political party manifestoes, which means that STEI will be a top priority item that must be funded appropriately”, the GhIE President recommended.

The Chairman of the occasion was Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah, former chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon. The event was attended by Past Presidents of GhIE, Council members, members of the GhIE, other professional bodies and the general public.