By Benjamin A. Commey
Accra, Aug 14, GNA-The Sundoulos Advanced Leadership Training (SALT) Institute has graduated 15 students at its maiden graduation ceremony held in Accra.
The 15, graduated from the two Masters of Arts programmes run by the Institute.
Nine of them were students of the Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy (MAIRD), while the remaining six from the Master of Arts in Leadership and Management (MALM).
Ms Catherine Chepkurui Lang’ from Kenya and International Relations Diplomacy student was adjudged the overall best student with a FGPA of 3.76.
The master’s degrees were conferred on them by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), the mentoring institution.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Fatima Alabo, Acting Rector, SALT Institute, said congregations were major events in the life of a tertiary institution, as they marked a milestone.
She said, for SALT Institute, the maiden congregation ceremony was significant because it sets in motion the institute’s journey towards raising, training, and developing servant leaders for business and public life in Africa and the global marketplace.
“We are happy at SALT Institute to be part of the systematic enterprise of raising the next generation of transformational thinkers and servant leaders for the African continent,” she added.
SALT Institute, a fully accredited private tertiary institution by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), is currently mentored by GIMPA and the International Relations and Diplomacy.
Established in 2003, the Institute currently ran five programmes including Bachelor of Arts in Transformational Leadership, BA in International Relations, Master of Arts in Leadership and Management MA in International Relations and Diplomacy as well as Certificate in Business Management and Entrepreneurship.
Dr Alabo said management was making frantic efforts to obtain accreditation for additional innovative postgraduate degree programmes.
“At present, the masters’ degree and certificate programmes are on full offer at the Institute, while the bachelor’s degree programmes are yet to commence,” she explained.
She said the institute was driven by firm resolve that the better years of the African continent laid ahead.
The Rector disclosed that, beginning next academic year, Management had put in arrangements for students to embark on internships at various organisations relevant to their area of study, to equip them with the right skills.
“Students will also be required to engage in volunteerism during our Integrity, Leadership and Stewardship (ILS) Community Service Week celebrations,” she added.
Mr Emeka Nwankpa, Chairman, Board of Trustees, said the Institute was convinced that its human capital efforts would produce a new breed of servant leaders,whose application of solid biblical principles would impact systems of governance and leadership across the continent.
“We believe that the academic enterprise of the SALT Institute in Ghana will help close the leadership gap in Africa and return our beloved continent to its divine status of wealth and glory on the global stage,” he said.
He urged the graduands to be great ambassadors of the Institute by serving and transforming the world.
Professor Olusola Oyewole, Secretary General, Association of African Universities and Guest Speaker at the event, commended management of SALT Institute for its commitment to leadership training in Ghana, and Africa as a whole.
“I believe that the SALT Institute is just beginning and very soon, we shall see products of this Institute transforming our continent in education, in politics, in media, in social services, among others,” he said.
He entreated the graduands to be the change the continent had yearned for, to facilitate development.
GNA