There is NO government of Ghana research funds available to Ghanaian researchers. All research funds are externally sourced. So every faculty member who needs to do research must resolve to seek to apply to the UN, USAID, NUFFIC, DAAD, etc. Every research is an innovation, i.e. the resultant output of certain research is enough to warrant a patent or the results can become the underlying principle for our daily lives. Consider iodized salt, new varieties of cowpea, quinine, etc. For example, in the article below, some researchers (not Ghanaian) have found out that a Ghanaian herbal medicine far outperforms several anti-biotics in the treatment of Lyme disease. Need i say more, why no Ghanaian found it? Innovation and patenting is a means to poverty reduction. #whereisResearchFund
Secondly, research funding is what leads to research degrees like Mphil and PhDs. The funding obtained helps senior researchers to train future researchers by exchanging knowledge whiles growing new and less understood phenomena. For instance, it will require an amount of GHS 120,000 (approx. USD 22,300) to train a PhD for a duration of 4years assuming a salary of GHS 2,500 (approx. UDS 465). The amount of researchers per head in Ghana will not even qualify the country as a developing country. Consider the fact that there are only forty-two (42) PhD holders in mathematics from UDS, KNUST, UCC, UG and UMAT.
I will not bother to give the information on Statistics, Physics, Computer Science, etc. However, considering the fact that, all that is required to train a PhD in mathematics in an office space, a workstation, white/green/black board, chalk/markers and board cleaners with A4 and printers is still an issue for the government, i wonder how it easy it will be to train Ghanaians in Aerospace and Marine Engineering or programs that will require machinery to assist in training and development. In a small building on about 2500 meter square space in Austria, there're more than sixty (60) mathematicians working. #thinkingoutloud
The restructuring of GETFUND and other parastatal funding bodies in Ghana is a dire need. The current system where scholarship funds are direct payment for senior officials is not just thievery and corrupt but a shame to the our collective minds. The country is increasingly becoming an oligarchy, where young men and women in dire need of very small amounts to enroll into their dream programs have no hope. You need a big man or woman to connect you to a scholarship scheme that can be open and transparent for every citizen to participate. GETFUND and other quasi-governmental bodies with funding functions should be restructured to allow for competitive offers to students in dire need of assistance and for researchers with ground-breaking ideas that need huge governmental investments to flourish. #Oligarchy #Thievery #StomachDirection
The Nonsense must stop. The theft must cease and the robbery must end. Funding is no fun. It is a means by which the government can invest in the knowledge chain towards intellectual property. A means by which poor people can find their path to changing their society. There is no measure to the value of a good idea and good ideas are built by deliberate intentions and planning. #StopTheNonsense