Kwesi Kwaa Prah

Kwesi Kwaa Leah (born 1942, Kumasi) is an author, public speaker, and a Sociology professor, who was born in Ghana and has been based in southern Africa since the 1980s.He is the author of several books, including Beyond The Color Line (1997). He has also published many articles revolving around the topics of Africa's history and what is to come in Africa's future, as well as speaking and writing on issues such as the education system and social reforms. He is vocal about the race issues in society, speaking publicly and challenging government actions. He is the founder and Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS).He has worked in a number of universities in Africa, Europe and Asia, researching and teaching Sociology and Anthropology. Quotes Every language is important. Icelandic is important. Italian is important. Greek is important. Could you ever ask someone from one of these countries whether the language they speak is important? In the same token, African languages should be allowed to flourish. We do not talk about the ‘indigenous languages’ of France, Slovakia or the Czech Republic, so why do we insist on speaking in these terms when it comes to Africa? No country can make progress on the basis of a borrowed language, understood only by a minority. Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. They stopped using the language of their French colonisers: this is precisely why they are succeeding. Education is still a privilege of the westernised elite. We talk about development through education and training, but in whose language? If we continue to pretend that African languages are unimportant in the drive to achieve ‘education for all. ICT is enormously important – it is moving the world forward and of great intellectual interest – but without African languages, we cannot make a difference to Africans. You cannot lift Africa without African languages. His opinion on No country can make progress on the basis of a borrowed language Honors & awards Representative of his accomplishments, he was awarded the Kwame Nkrumah Award for Service to Pan-Africanism in 2015, which is awarded to a scholar, administrator or politician who has contributed to the realization of the vision of African unity and development. He has also been awarded the Commander of the National Order of the Ivory Coast in 2010; D.Litt. Honorary Degree by the University of the West Indies, Barbados in 2011; and the CL Engelbrecht Prize by Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns in 2012. External links