Renowned political scientist, Professor Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, has been elected President of the University of Ghana’s Chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).
He garnered 448 votes representing 93.3 percent of the total valid votes cast in an election held on Thursday, August 17 at the nation’s premier university.
Out of the total 1234 eligible voters, only 480 exercised their franchise with a paltry 28 voting against his presidency with four persons abstaining.
The former Director of the Centre for European Studies of the University of Ghana who was in August 5, 2021 elected the Secretary of the Association, in August 2023 maintained that his ambition to climb to the higher office of UTAG is motivated by his desire to forcefully and proactively champion the interest and welfare of the members of the association.
“In the driving seat myself, I’ll champion the interest of my people forcefully and proactively.
“I lost some friends as General Secretary and I do not mind losing more as I fight harder for the University Teacher in my capacity as President,” Prof. Gyampo declared after emerging victorious as the UTAG-UG President on Thursday.
“It won’t be out of malice or hatred for any regime. It would be just for the advancement of the interest of my people.
“Thanks to you all for the well wishes; thanks to all my colleague lecturers for the confidence they have shown in me and thanks to my students who were relentless in their support for me.”
Dr. Inusah Abdul-Nasiru was also elected as the Vice President of UTAG-UG.
Dr. Jerry Joe Harrison and Prof. (Mrs) Vera Ogeh Lassey Fiador were elected General Secretary and Treasurer respectively.
PROFILE OF PROFESSOR RANSFORD GYAMPO
Born on 31st March 1977, in Accra Ghana, Professor Ransford Edward Van Gyampo is a Professor of Political Science and a former Director of the Centre for European Studies of the University of Ghana, with two decades of teaching and research experience. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Ghana and his research interest lies in the areas of Youth Empowerment and Development, Democratic Governance, Electoral Reform, Natural Resource Management, European Studies, and Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea.
Until recently, he was a visiting scholar at the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of South Florida, United States of America (USA). He currently serves as a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. For 14 years, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Governance Unit of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) leading a number of research projects and playing a key role in the IEA’s Socio-Economic and Governance Surveys. For 10 years, Prof Gyampo also served as Coordinator of the Ghana Political Parties Programme, a programme that brought together the leadership of Political Parties with representation in Ghana’s Parliament to discuss issues of national importance in a non-partisan manner and to propose practical solutions to them.
He worked at the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) as Senior Research Fellow for two years and currently heads the Youth Bridge Research Institute. He is a member of Ghana’s Electoral Reforms Committee and played a key role in identifying the challenges of Ghana’s electoral processes and submitting electoral reform proposals to the Electoral Commission for the purposes of fine-tuning Ghana’s electoral system. He is also a member of the Representation of the People’s Amendment Act (ROPAA) Consultative Committee, a Committee set up by the Electoral Commission to research, consult and advise on the implementation of the law that mandates Ghanaians living abroad to vote in Ghanaian elections.
Prof Gyampo has more than 200 research works to his credit within his areas of research interest. These have been published in internationally refereed journals across the globe as Books, Book Chapters, Book Reviews, Peer Reviewed Journal Articles, Technical Reports, Monographs, and Policy Briefs.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D. in Political Science – University of Ghana/Tufts University, Boston
- MPhil in Political Science – University of Ghana
- B.A. in Political Science – University of Ghana
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
- Governance, Leadership, and Democratic Development
- Political Theory
- Political Institutions
- Politics in Ghana and Politics of Developing Countries
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- European Studies
- Maritime Security
- Natural Resource Management
- Election Management and Electoral Politics
COURSES TAUGHT
Undergraduate courses
- Public Administration
- Introduction to Political Science
- Political Institutions
- Strategies for African Development
- Politics of Developing Countries
- Governance and Leadership
- Social and Political Theory
- Ancient and Medieval Political Thought
Over 150 Long Essays/Master’ (MA & MPhil) and Doctoral Dissertations have been written under his supervision.
Postgraduate courses
- Government-Business Relations (MA Public Affairs)
- Strategic Planning (MA Public Affairs)
- Problems of Government and Politics in Africa (Mphil, Political Science)
- Strategies for Development of Africa (MPhil, Political Science)
- Issues and Problems of Development in Africa (PhD, Political Science)
- The Political Economy of African Development (PhD, Economics)