A renowned professor of Law, Professor Kofi Oteng Kufuor, has urged the country to strengthen the legal framework underpinning the rule of law and democratic dispensation.
That, he explained, would assist and support the creation of state institution independence, freedom of expression, tolerance of differing viewpoints, and citizenry empowerment to actively engage in national cohesion and nation-building.
Prof. Kufuor, who also doubles as the Co-General Editor of the African Journal of International and Comparative Law, was speaking on the topic: ‘A very convenient marriage: Law and technology in the quest for economic transformation’, at the maiden Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Faculty of Law ‘Eminent Legal Scholars Public Lecture Series’, in Kumasi.
He said studies had shown countries that appreciated civil liberty and had enacted laws to build institutional efficiency, achieved accelerated transformation and socio-economic growth and development.
Prof. Kufuor described the law as public good and appropriate good laws were enacted to bring about innovative ideas and technological know-how as protection of intellectual property.
Citing how the Netherlands grew to become a powerhouse, he observed that“learning from their experiences under Spain, the law of the Dutch union protected the right to free expression, the right to form associations, and it held the state at arm’s length from the institutions of higher learning.
“The legal framework of the Dutch Republic set the stage for flourishing of technology on the back of tolerance, scientists and technologists thrived as the country attracted scientists and other thinkers from all over Europe.
“To achieve sustainable advancement, developing countries such as Ghana must learn to put in place appropriate governance systems that do not restrict people’s rights or state institutions because it had helped to strengthen legal regimes in almost all fields of human endeavour, thereby advancing the cause of humanity,” Prof. Kufuor intimated.
He cautioned that the advent of social media had further created knowledge-base to create awareness on emerging development trends globally and make life better for mankind.
Prof. Kufuor, who has been a Professor of Law at the University of East London, since 2006, commended the KNUST for setting the stage for a multidisciplinary approach to legal education through the lecture serieswhich was critical for advancement of the Ghanaian society.
Prof.Rita Akosua Dickson, Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, observed that the lecture series was aimed at improving intellectual conversation and design a route for the nation to obtain knowledge from prominent scholars and those in other fields and help to improve people’s quality of life and their overall well-being.
According to her, the university envisioned itself as the leading provider of legal education, preparing the human resources and skills needed to advance socioeconomic, technological, and industrial development adding that “the rate at which technology is growing demands equal measure in law for transformation”.
FROM TIMES REPORTER, KUMASI
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