HON. ATTA AKYEA WINS NOBLE AWARD
The West African Nobles Forum (WANF), a non-governmental, non-religious and non-profit making, has awarded Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea, Minister of Works and Housing, for upholding the virtues of honesty, integrity and accountability at its 28th West African Nobles Conference and Awards in Accra.
The Minister, who was also the guest speaker, expressed his gratitude to the Forum for the recognition given him as a recipient of the Nobles International Award. He lauded WANF for its objectives to put together prominent West Africans of noble minds to diagnose the problems of the sub region and prescribe solutions to them.
Hon. Atta Akyea however lamented that Ghana is suffering from institutional challenges because people turn to see structures and organisations as the institution rather than the human beings who function in those structures. He added that many of those individuals are challenged with integrity and excellence.
He explained that some people are challenged with integrity and excellence because they do not see themselves as the vehicle of change in an institution. Rather, they see the organisation as the institution
“Most Ghanaians believe that we lack resources to build Ghana. Meanwhile Ghana cannot work if people do not care about integrity and excellence. Granted all the money of China is given to Ghana for free, but if those who will run the system in Ghana lack integrity and excellence, then it is not the quantum of what you hold that will change anything but the integrity of your heart in applying monies to where they matter”, he said.
The Minister observed that Ghanaians have developed an allergy to excellence and therefore ridicule those who strive to pursue excellence, saying “we complain too much about material resources but there is a deficit inmorality which we don’t want to address”.
He therefore urged the Nobles to continue to stand for excellence whenever they are faced with such challenges and also should continue to be positive influence in Ghana and beyond.
Mr. Douglas Arthur Mensah, Chairman for the Occasion, who explained the basis of the award said WANF did thorough investigation and found the product of integrity that is honesty, accountability, humility, persistency and excellence in the awardees, before nominating them for the awards.
He admonished the awardees to continue to uphold their integrity to enable them stay on top. ‘Whatever you do, whether in business or politics, always do what is right even if nobody is watching. Your success is determined by the number of people your success has made successfully in line. Your greatness must make others great. You must learn to comfort others with the comfort God has given you. Use the opportunity you have, to create opportunity for others,’ he added.
The Chief Executive of WANF, Dr, Dee Otibu-Asare, indicated that since the inception of the Forum Fifteen years ago, the group has sought to instill integrity in the people in the West African sub-region by means of organising annual fora/conferences, investiture of new members and honour eminent personalities who are known to be upright and lived lives worthy of emulation.
He explained that a Noble is anyone with fine personal qualities that people admire with qualities such as courage, humility, honesty, care for others and a servant leader.
Dr. Dee congratulated the 14 recipients of the awards for their high personal, financial and moral integrity and also for their contribution to the advancement of their respective organisations particularly in these days where dishonesty seems to be eating deep into the very fabric of the society.