The Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, has lauded the Presidential Charter granted to the Pentecost University (PU) to become an autonomous and fully-fledged University.
The Pentecost University on May 28, 2020, made history when the President of the Republic, His Excellency Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo, presented the Charter certificate to the Rector, Apostle Dr. Daniel Okyere Walker, at the Jubilee House in Accra.
Delivering his State of the Church Address at the 2020 General Council Meetings of the church on June 2, 2020, via television, Apostle Nyamekye, who is the Chancellor of the University, noted that the integration of the hitherto Pentecost University College (PUC) and the erstwhile Pentecost Theological Seminary (PTS) in 2019, facilitated the granting of the Charter.
The integration led to the creation of the School of Theology, Mission and Leadership (STML) which has three departments, namely Theology, Missions and Leadership (Sowutuom campus) and a Centre for Ministerial Formation (Gomoa Fetteh campus).
The Chairman explained that the Charter now mandates Pentecost University to award her own degrees, diplomas and certificates to students who graduate from the University.
It will also be independent from any of her affiliates and mentoring universities, the University of Ghana (UG), University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and also designs her own programmes and courses for both the undergraduate and graduate levels of studies.
COPCEF
Apostle Nyamekye further disclosed that in line with Vision 2023, The Church of Pentecost Chairman’s Education Foundation (COPCEF) has been launched to raise One Hundred Million Dollars (USD 100m) in 10 years to provide scholarships to needy but brilliant students at the Pentecost University. He added that a total of GHS1.5million has been received from donors to provide scholarship opportunities for needy students as well as support the infrastructural development of the university.
He also announced that a head office grant of GHS 5,000,000.00 for an infrastructural facelift of the university saw the renovation of the James McKeown and Phase II auditoriums, halls of residence, lecture halls and the construction of a new entrance and exit gates for the university.
The Chairman further acknowledged the Prophet M.K. Yeboah Trust’s donation of GHS 200, 000.00 to upgrade and modernize the PentVars library. This donation, he noted, is the first major external funding of the library.
Free scholarship for 392 students
Apostle Nyamekye observed that the Church’s continuous support for the University was also seen in the areas of students’ enrollment with the sponsorship of three hundred and ninety-two (392) students being sponsored by the various Areas and Districts for the 2019/2020 academic year. “This educational support from the church covers the four-year study of the students in the University,” he said.
He expressed his delight in what he described as the “exceptional performance of the students and staff” to win several coveted awards such as the Most Outstanding and Overall Best Private University in Ghana, the Most Respected CEO and Most Outstanding CEO of Private Universities awarded to the Rector, Apostle Dr. Walker. The Vice Rector, Elder Prof. K.B Omane-Antwi also received recognition for outstanding contribution to the Accountancy Sector and his role as a pioneering president of the Ghana Institute of Directors.
The Chairman added that the University also gained international recognition through the formation of strategic partnerships with the Yenepoya University in India, the University of Stellenbosch Business School in South Africa and the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana, Legon among other notable institutions.
The Pentecost University started as Pentecost Bible Centre in 1972. It was renamed as Pentecost Bible College in 1984 and moved to Madina. It was later upgraded and inaugurated as the Pentecost University College by former President J. A. Kuffuor in 2003. It attained full university status on May 28, 2020.
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