The Bishop Kantanka Transformation and Leadership Institute (BK-TLI), a Christian leadership institute, has been launched in Kumasi with a call on Ghanaian youth to aspire to be transformational leaders and not live for themselves.
Inspired by the vision of biblical leaders like Joshua and Caleb, who possessed the “Conquest” Mindset, BK-TLI believes that Africa’s destiny lies in the hands of visionary and courageous individuals who are committed to bringing about positive change.
Focusing on five thematic areas, BK-TLI, an offshoot of Bishop Kantanka Ministry, will work in the areas of leadership, transformational governance, entrepreneurship and advocacy and, thereby, preparing the next generation to understand what it means to be a Christian and to live the abundant live enshrined in the Bible.
BK-TLI believes in the critical role that mind-set plays in shaping the future of nations, hence its focus on instilling in students the mindset of conquerors, innovators and leaders.
In a post-interview with the media in Kumasi, the former Rector of GIMPA, Prof. Stephen Addai, who was the special Guest Speaker at the event, indicated that leaders have to be transformational and not live for themselves and their families.
Such leadership, Addai believes, are agents of change and they are blessing onto others and the nation at large.
This kind of leadership, according to him, is what BK-TLI seeks to impact onto Christians. “Honestly, leaders in Ghana do not do what Ghanaians really want or need, so we want to train the youth in schools and imbibe in them how to be God fearing and persevere to change the narrative for Ghana to have transformational leaders,” he said.
Prof Stephen Addai, who inaugurated the Board, lauded Prof. Bishop Osei Sarfo Kantanta for introducing such initiative.
“Bishop Prof. Osei is doing something monumental in the Ashanti region in that he has introduced a ministry, which seeks to train the youth to be transformational leaders to help others and Ghana at large.
The hallmarks of transformational leaders, according to the vocal academic, is not amassing wealth at the detriment of the masses and state, but rather being impactful in the lives of others.
“The hallmarks of transformational leaders are God fearing and they lead a clean life. When they leave office, they are not accused of being rich overnight, but their tenure is marked with transformation, prosperity and progress. Since such leaders are God fearing, their works surpass their own understanding because they have a covenant with God. This is transformational spiritual leadership”
Commenting on leadership in Ghana, he said “In Ghana, when people are given a leadership role, they tend to lord over the masses.
“God says to his followers that is not Christian leadership. Even He who is God exhibited humility, when he came on earth that is how we should behave as leaders and serve.”
Using himself as an example, Prof. Stephen Addai, who is a native of Wiamoase, Ashanti, noted that being born again is the ultimate game changer.
“Some of us are known by the Institutions that we have been with, but the game changer of my life is when I accepted God as my personal saviour at the age of eighteen and this brought complete change into my life”
On his part, Rt.Rev.Prof. Osei Sarfo-Kantanka, the founder of BK-TLI disclosed to the media that they have learned and understood that a household or a nation could prosper if the leader was good, emphasising that the Bible attested to this fact.
Per the direction Ghana is heading towards, Prof. Sarfo-Kantanka believes the nation needed a new type of leadership.
This kind of leadership, according to him, is the one that could help mobilise and help with nation building.
“In short, the leadership of the country is not mobilising us; we the citizenry have bought into this idea that we should wait for the politician to come and do it for us. We call it dependency syndrome. This is what has retarded the development of the nation.”
Prof Osei Sarfo-Kantanka believes Ghana needs a crop of leaders with different mind-set,emphasising that the youth must be trained to save the nation.
“We have to get people whose mind-set is different from where we are. This is the reason why we have assembled the youth here and introduced this to them.If we do not begin with the youth, the problem cannot be addressed because a lot of the adults are forgone.
“The way things are panning out, if we do not begin to start to train the youth to think differently from the adults,I do not know when things will change in Ghana to benefit us.
“So far as I am concerned, in Ghana, if you take political and traditional leadership, the notion is that someone will do it for us and the politicians create such an impression.”
Recalling how traditional leaders used to be agents of change in Ghanaian societies in the years gone by, the Methodist Prelate said chiefs used to be agents of developments, but this kind of leadership is no more since the politicians have presented themselves as the warfare officers.
The former Kumasi Diocese Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, asserted that education was good but failure to pursue it should not deter such person(s) to become a leader in Ghana.
“A leader does not mean the person has to be elite. It is acceptable for someone who has read the law and understands the constitution to aspire to be a president, but that does not solve the nation’s problem.
Ghana, according to the Prelate, who is also a Scientist, needed someone who has the nation at heart and ever ready to challenge the status quo.
“We want someone who loves the country and is poised to help to change the narrative. That is what we lack in Ghana, so we are praying that God will help us enlighten these youths and learn that if I am a senior prefect, I have been elected to serve my peers and not the vice versa.
“When he gets to the university and joins the SRC or NUGS, he will deliver and from there, such a person if he or she is in parliament or assembly, they know that they are there to serve.
