Major Courage Quashigah Foundation launched
President John Dramani Mahama says Ghanaians must recognize hard work, dedication and service by celebrating the achievements of citizens who excel in their fields of endeavour while they still lived.
He said he was unhappy with the practice of only singing the praises of the country’s legends after they have passed on.
The President said this in a statement read on his behalf by Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Minister of State at the presidency, during the Launch of the Major Courage Quashigah Foundation in Accra.
President Mahama said it was unfortunate that the praiseworthy achievements of the late Major Quashigah were being told when he was no longer alive, saying the phenomenon had robbed many great men and women of Ghana the opportunity to witness the celebration of their legacies while still alive.
He expressed the hope that more citizens who had demonstrated exceptional qualities in their fields of endeavour will be celebrated and honoured while alive.
“We need to tell the admirable stories of our own living legends and chart a path of giving due recognition to hard work, dedication and service,” he said.
He commended the focus of the Foundation in ensuring food security, healthy lifestyle management, leadership, and security development, describing it as very appropriate since it captured the legacies of the late Major Courage Quashigah, a former minister for Food and agriculture, health minister as well as a soldier.
“Our duty now is to do more exploits so that those who will come after us will take up the story of hard work, dedication, passion, patriotism and the unquenchable desire achieve distinction”, he said.
Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, Chief Executive Officer of the John Agyekum Kuffour Foundation, who launched the Foundation on behalf of the former President, paid tribute to the late Major Quashigah and his service as Minister of Health and Minister of Food and Agriculture.
He commended the late Major ability’s to transform himself from a military life and the life of a public servant.
“His life, achievements, discipline and high sense of nationalism should inspire our youth, his glaring evident dealings and dedication to the service of Ghana should be emulated” he said.
Dr Mrs Gertrude Quashigah, widow of the late Major and President of the Quashigah Foundation cautioned Ghanaians to be mindful of the fact that they would one day be remembered for the legacies they left behind and their contributions to society and humanity.
The Foundation as part of its projects and programmes will commission the Quashigah Foundation Chair at the school of Biomedical Sciences and Allied Health Sciences of the College of Humanities at the University of Ghana to continue the work of the late Major in the areas of health lifestyle management practices and systems delivery as well as research.
A Major Quashigah Chair for Micro-Livestock Studies will also be commissioned at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, while a leadership school will be inaugurated at the Public Services and Governance school of GIMPA to run tailored leadership courses for specific target groups.
Dignitaries at the launch included representatives of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the various tertiary institutions, development partners, as well as traditional rulers.
Source: GNA