Biography

Dr. Osei Kofi Darkwa was appointed first Principal of Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) on November 16, 2004. He assumed this leadership position after more than two decades of higher education, administrative, consultative and managerial experience in Norway, the United States, and his home country, Ghana.

Prior to his appointment, he served as a Senior lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Since assuming the headship of GTUC, Dr Darkwa has facilitated institutional transformation in areas of critical importance to the university including status change, fiscal operating improvements, private funding, capital improvements, strategic planning and technological enhancements.

Specifically, under his administration, GTUC

• Received accreditation in record time from NAB on March 01, 2006
• Ceased to be a cost centre after one year of operation
• Opened its doors widely to students in Ghana and abroad totaling 1030 within 2 years of operation as a university
• Introduced new, diverse and quality curriculum and programmes.
• Acquired state of the art facilities including 3 Video Conference equipment, e-library, wireless environment, telecom & computer laboratories.
• Initiated a comprehensive strategic plan that engages all university constituents and serves as the roadmap for the transformation of the university.
• Receives resources from GETFUND including building facility, operational vehicles, boreholes, food court and library resources.
• Has initiated, nurtured and built business, academic and communal relationships.
• Has attained good publicity and an enviable reputation.

Dr Darkwa works tirelessly and with dedication and enthusiasm to enhance the quality of university education for his students. He is well-known for his creativity, strategic thinking and excellent communication between himself and faculty, staff and students.

He is an accomplished leader, an effective speaker, a writer par excellence, a true visionary and a holder of an impressive record of academic and research accomplishment. Notably he has :

• Written well over 120 articles on various ICT topics which have been published in the Ghanaian Times between May, 2006 to July, 2008.
• Published numerous papers and articles on the Internet and in peer-reviewed journals on ICT development in Africa. He has written on topics such as distance education, telematics, multipurpose community telecentres, and virtual institution building.
• He has participated in various television and radio programmes and delivered lectures on ICT that cuts across various topics across the country and beyond.
• Played leadership and pioneering role in the community informatics movement.
• Played a key role in ICT capacity building, education and training
• Membership with key ICT-oriented organizations

Dr Darkwa began his primary education at Aningazanga Primary school (Bolgantanga) in 1966 and continued to the University of Ghana, Legon where he obtained a degree in Sociology & Political Science (1986). He gained admission to the University of Oslo, Norway where he completed two years of a Masters degree in Sociology Programme. He continued his studies at Washington University in St. Louis where he obtained a Doctor of Philosphy degree (Ph.D.) in 1995.

He relocated to Ghana in August 2003, after teaching at the University of Illinois as an Assistant Professor. Back home, he took up his first appointment as a visiting lecturer with the University of Ghana, Legon and later joined the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) in February 2005 as a senior Lecturer in Management Information Systems, Electronic Commerce and Computer Applications.