Professor Amina Mama
The fourth and first woman occupant of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies, Professor Amina Mama, has been officially installed at a ceremony chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo at the Great Hall, University of Ghana.
After the installation, Professor Mama delivered an inaugural lecture titled, “Nkrumah’s Legacy, Feminism and the Next Generation.” The lecture threw light on developing ‘a pan-African bridging praxis’ that is alert to re-awakening and renewal of the collective sense of destiny among Africans. She stated that there was the need for more pan-African festivals conferences of African people to discuss and grow the changes anticipated in the African intellectual, economic, and cultural production.
Prof. Mama explored the relationship between Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s core ideas, his gender politics and independent and post-independence African women’s movement. For Dr. Nkrumah, the African society is fundamentally egalitarian, and it underpinned the enormous role women played in the struggle of Africa’s freedom.
Prof. Amina Mama also expressed appreciation to the University Management and the leadership of IAS for the honour done her and the warm reception accorded her.
In her welcome address, the Director of the Institute, Professor Dzodzi Tsikata stated, ‘The Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies was established to deepen research and learning on the history, trajectories and current concerns of Africans and her diasporas’. She observed that it is part of the Chair’s aim to honour Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for his instrumentality in setting up the Institute of African Studies and his contributions to the liberation and development of Africa. While congratulating Prof. Amina Mama for being the first female occupant of the Chair, she was excited about Prof. Mama’s decision to focus explicitly on issues of cultural economy, feminisms, and the next generation, since these issues are central in realising Dr. Nkrumah’s vision of a united and prosperous Ghana.
Professor Tsikata also commended Prof. Mama for bridging the odds to take up the Chair amidst Covid-19 pandemic in January 2021 and for settling in to organise the first fully digital 3rd Kwame Nkrumah Festival which was attended by thousands of renowned scholars and activists online. She announced the IAS’ decision to support PhD fellows to research topics related to the Chair’s purpose in line with growing African thinkers for the 21st Century.
Professor Tsikata further expressed gratitude to AngloGold Ashanti Ghana Limited for the immense support in the sustainability of the Chair and its projects.
In her introductory remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Amfo celebrated Prof. Mama for the remarkably successful organization of the Kwame Nkrumah Intellectual Festival and the IAS for spearheading several important research and archival projects and conferences that have enhanced the image of the Institute and the University. The Vice-Chancellor was then assisted by the Director of the Institute, to install Professor Mama.
She used the occasion to express profound gratitude to AngloGold Ashanti Limited and other partners for supporting the IAS since the Chair’s establishment and urged other corporate entities to support the Chair in its quest to promote research in African Studies.
The Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti Limited, Mr. Eric Asubonteng, in his remarks, laid stress on committing to equal opportunities for women. He indicated that as part of Dr. Nkrumah’s legacy, he made significant attempts to improve the status of women. He concluded by calling on the gathering to ‘build on the work of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and empower women to advance in their fields’.
The ceremony brought together members of the University community as well as officials from AngloGold Ashanti Ghana Limited, and a cross section of the public. It was spiced up with a seprewa appellation and a choreographic performance by the Ghana Dance Ensemble.
The Kwame Nkrumah Chair has had three distinguished occupants namely, Professor Kofi Anyidoho, Professor Jacob U. Gordon, and Professor Horace Campbell who were installed in February 2011, February 2013 and February 2017 respectively.