A Past President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Ing Dr. Kwame Boakye, has challenged engineers, particularly young professionals, to take a more active role in addressing Ghana and Africa’s development challenges through innovation, leadership and ethical professional practice.
Speaking at the 49th Induction Ceremony of the Ghana Institution of Engineering, Ing Dr. Boakye said engineering must be at the centre of efforts to transform Africa’s resources into economic and social value.
He said Africa’s growing youth population presented both a significant opportunity and a development challenge that required engineers to contribute beyond their traditional technical roles.
“Ghana and Africa are going nowhere without engineering, because the only way to change where we are now is through engineering,” he said.
He urged newly inducted engineers to view their profession as a platform for solving societal problems rather than limiting themselves to technical assignments.
According to him, engineers must understand the communities in which they work and ensure that their expertise contributes meaningfully to national development.
“It is not enough to stay in your office. It is not enough to design roads. Engineering is about solving problems for society, and you have to be interested in society,” he said.
Ing Dr. Boakye also called for greater participation of engineers in leadership and public decision-making, arguing that technical professionals must have a stronger voice in shaping policies that affect national development.
He encouraged engineers to participate actively in public life, including politics, community organisations, religious institutions and traditional structures.
He said the continent needed professionals who could combine technical knowledge with leadership and a clear sense of national purpose.
However, he cautioned that technical expertise alone was not sufficient to drive development.
“It is not enough to just have engineers. We must have engineers with a purpose and engineers with ethics,” he said.
He called on GhIE to continue strengthening professional accountability and ethical standards while encouraging members to use their expertise in the public interest.
Ing Dr. Boakye identified the need for Ghana to translate the achievements of individual professionals into stronger institutional and national outcomes.
He observed that Ghana had many highly accomplished professionals, but their individual successes did not always translate into corresponding collective performance.
“We have individual excellence by group incompetence. A big part of our charge is to translate our individual excellence to group competence, and that is where the Institution comes in,” he said.
He therefore urged members to actively participate in GhIE’s activities and contribute their knowledge, experience and professional networks to strengthening the Institution.
He said GhIE had an important role to play in shaping Ghana’s development and called on members to see their membership as an opportunity for service rather than simply professional recognition.
Addressing the newly inducted engineers directly, Ing Dr. Boakye urged them not to remain passive in the face of the challenges confronting the country and the continent. “You cannot be passive. Don’t be passive. Don’t be silent,” he said.
He challenged them to continually ask themselves what they were contributing not only to the Ghana Institution of Engineering, but also to Ghana and Africa as a whole.
He said the continent’s future would depend on professionals who were prepared to combine technical competence, ethical leadership, innovation and a commitment to public service.
The 49th Induction Ceremony formally admitted newly qualified practitioners into Full Membership of GhIE, marking an important milestone in their professional careers and reinforcing their responsibilities to the engineering profession and society.