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Bernard N. Owusu - Sekyere
Profession: Security & Development Policy Analyst; Evaluator; & African (Indigenous) Theologian
Qualifications:
MCom Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies, UKZN-SA; MTh (Theology & Development), UKZN-SA. Other Certified Trainings: ArcGIS 9.3 for Information and decision analysis; Transdisciplinary Food Security; Food Security Measuring & Monitoring, ACFS-UKZN/FAO; Entrepreneurship training with Business Partners (workshop); Managing Diversity.
Foundation, experiences and attainments
Bernard was born on 24th January 1960 in Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa. Raised in a large African family that upholds both African values and Christian ones, he excelled in his elementary schooling and has been inclined to ingenuity. He is blessed with one lovely boy and two pretty girls (Papa Yaw, Maame Henewaa, and Akua Birago) with deceased mother that occurred in November 1999; thereafter two unsuccessful re-marriages as a busy person. Having attained his Secondary School education at Prempeh College, Kumasi, from 1974 to 1979, he participated in the Ghana Army Cadet Corps in the school for personal discipline; he was active in sports and run 400m (and the relay) for his House (Serwah) and also long-jump. In 1978/79 he was nominated as Senior School representative to the School's Magazine - 'The Stool' Editorial Board and class captain in his fifth year. He was also member of Foreign Affairs Club. After efforts to enter the US to further his studies in Medicine and Sciences failed to materialise, he ended up in Nigeria and worked as Administrative clerk for one year with VICOL-Holdings (Nig) Ltd, at Abeokuta, Nigeria in 1983/84. As a young student Bernard was hosted for 1 year by the family of Mr John Aidoo, a former Obasanjo Farms Administrator at Otta and Ibora, Nigeria.Bernard returned to Ghana in 1985 and after a decision to remain in Africa and contribute to the region's development. His interest in spirituality led to his decision to forgo his vision of becoming a great scientist, rather opted for religious related activities. Bernard became the King's Church's as Administrator in 1986/87. Bernard left the King's Church as a member after a decision to pursue rural outreach cum development (as his heart desire) was declined and joined St. George's Church also in Kumasi where he became Chairperson for the Evangelism Committee in 1988 to 1989 which led to achieving laudable Church growth. During this period he made effort in launching a charity and rural concerns organisation named 'Pearl of Heaven Foundation' which took place in 1987 at Ghana National Cultural Centre - Apatakesiem, Kumasi.
Pearl of Heaven Foundation (PHF) was community outreach organisation with the aim of helping rural communities around Kumasi to discover their abilities and capabilities and charity to poor children and people. The vision and objective has been that people can change if they are taught to discover the truth about themselves - they can do things for themselves. After barely six months activities in some of the Atwima-Kwawoma District communities an evangelistic group called Reapers came to arrange merger with PHF in order to employ the services and talent of Bernard. This was successful because it brought two complementary goals together - evangelism and community development. In April 1998, he lead in organising primary healthcare and nutrition education programme at Behenase that involved 5 communities in the area in conjunction with Ghana National Commission on Children and Ministry of Health Child Clinic Unit of Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. In 2000, Behenase church started in a poor community became the most progressive church in Central Ghana sector of Ghana Baptist Convention due to their ability and demonstration of self help a seed sowed right from inception of that work. Many of the young people I encountered that time have changed their poor economic status aggravated by hopeless job seeking to self-employed and business people.
The effective outcome of merger with Reapers made Bernard to consider working in similar manner with Ghana Baptist Convention after his undergrad studies at Christian Service University College, in spite of encouragement he got from many well-wisher who have confidence in his ability to set up a organisation on his own. After 3 months leaders training in Jos. Nigeria, Bernard return to Ghana and applied for appointment as cross-cultural Home Missionary to Northern Ghana where he establish a base in Bawku, an area notorious of inter-ethnic conflict and active business border town. As the adage goes, a leopard cannot change the skin colour, so did it become difficult for Bernard to only plant churches without adding the dimension of attending to the poor living conditions of the rural communities in the area. He formed a task force named Urgent Frontiers Outreach Corps, which later changed to Africa Urgent Frontiers Action Cops to give it broader geographic scope of targeting all West Africa. The group was young people he has raised and instils in them the zeal to mobilise communities for socio-economic transformation along the so called spiritual rescue which was the core of the mission work. The group was inaugurated in Bawku by Dr Jim Haney in 1997. The goals were helping rural women to attain economic independence through cooperative or by individual income activity projects, campaign for child education, and empowering young people recognise their strengths and acquire self-employable skills. In 1997, he advocated strongly at executive level for policy change in the GBC to recognise social-action as inseparable dimension to effective missions after experiencing opposition to his strategy of mission.
Today, the young rural churches started in the area continue to grow and extend themselves without support from elsewhere. The type of leadership training that focuses on ability and capability and also integrity has sustained the project of his pioneering mission.
In November 1996, he was nominated to represent Ghana Baptist Convention at Human-Need Conference (workshop on project planning, relief and disaster management) organised for Southern Baptist Convention (Brotherhood Commission) field staff in Lome, Togo for 5 days.
Bernard collaborated with traditional leaders, political leaders, and other local and international partners in his work. This took him to Burkina Faso and Niger. His holistic role nevertheless got him involved in conflict-management activities in the volatile Bawku enclave. Working among the two hostile ethnic/religious groups allowed him to learn a lot about approaches in promotion of peace in volatile circumstances. For 9 years he was able to work peacefully with diverse people group from all over West African sub-region and beyond. In August 1998 he participated in two-week long programme of ministry in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire as revival preacher. In May 1998, he was invited to present a seminar paper on 'Baptist Mission in Bawku-East district of Ghana to third-year (BA) students at Christian Service University College, Kumasi. In 2000 he was invited to participate in Amsterdam 2000 Conference and went through a number of skilling workshops for 3 weeks. Before his departure to SA he presented another seminar paper on 'Child Rights Seminar: Education of Northern Ghana child' organised by Ghana NGOs Coalition on the Rights of the Child at Garu, Ghana, on November 2 2002. (It was radio news item. ) He utilised limited resources to make laudable impact in Upper-East Region of Ghana towards improving the life of some poor people in various ways.
Bernard offered other voluntary function as Treasurer of the Kusaal Old Testament Translation Committee (auspice of GILBT) and led in local and drawing proposal for overseas fundraising, September 2001 - December 2002; Chairperson, Baptist Regional Association - Upper-East Region, Ghana in 1997; Member, National Executive Committee - Ghana Baptist Convention in 1987; Director, Urgent Frontiers Action Corps (non-registered NGO) for rural women income change & child- youth development, Bawku from 1995 - 2002; Chairperson, Bawku Evangelism Network (Interdenominational social organization for Bawku East/West Districts), September 1995 &345 December 1996.
Bernard's method, being rational planning and collaboration-based/teamwork lead to his successes in establishing a Mission base and field. In 1998 he compiled a survey report for Ghana Baptist Convention in Upper-East Region Ghana that was used to raise funds from UK to a tune of 㾶 000.00 and part donated to an orphanage in Bolgatanga and Bawku Hospital. After 9 years of active work and ample field experiences he returned to school once more and has attained honours and two masters' degrees in Theology and Development and Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies at University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He has attended many workshops and seminars on leadership development, strategic planning and management of organisational policy since 1986. He has been teaching strategic planning as way of life not only for organisations and business activities, but for individual living. He is a soft humanist, creative, strategic thinker and analyst with strong belief in productivity and accountability. He has inspired many young people to transcend barriers of impossibility. He has a vast array of skills that makes him an extremely versatile consultant on issues, not only specific to the African continent, but the larger global arena.
Bernard's people-centred mentality makes him a delight for African rural folks in communities he has worked. He sees people as chest of resources and opportunities that they need to know and make use of their potentials. He believe strongly that Africans cannot change the world to continue dishing offers and grants, but Africa can change its people to become highly productive individuals and communities. African cannot continue bemoaning past wrongful events but Africa can re-empower African people to self-sufficiency and sustainability. He believes in rural agricultural development as key to sustainable development and answer for food security. He champions arguments and debates for business and economic development programmes that put people first. He insists on active work as cause of productivity in society and has organised workshops on principles of work. Having personally been involved rural development as practitioner and activist, he mentored and coached many urban and rural young people, some who have become successful as community councillors, business men and women, some attaining higher education goals, and others are in overseas involved in various professional activities.
In South Africa, Bernard assisted the Ebenezer Baptist Church for two and half years as teacher/preacher and young people organiser. He voluntarily produced a five year strategic plan for the Church. He has been contract lecturer for (Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa, Politics and Law in South Africa, and International Affairs) undergraduate levels at School of Politics - UKZN-Pietermaritzburg in 2009. He presented a seminars paper on 'Gender Violence' for post-graduate certificate in education students, Faculty of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal - Pietermaritzburg, Dec 2006; 'Culturally Dos & Don'ts' to international students orientation, UKZN, Pietermaritzburg in February 2004 and July 2003. He became a member of central planning committee of Democracy, Governance & Human Rights of Student Leadership Development - UKZN, Pietermaritzburg, from 2005 to 2007. He was employed on contract bases to evaluated peace education programme of the Adult Education Centre UKZN at Mbambangalo near Pietermaritzburg (Report). The founder has authored two evaluative unpublished dissertations in areas of development and African security issues and a published article on 'Towards a sustainable peace and reconciliation in Cote d'Ivoire' in African Security Review - June 2009. He contributes other news, academic and non-academic articles in the THEMbos-dev website on security, development and cultural themes. He has attended workshops in Managing Diversity organised by SACC 2005/2006, Entrepreneurship Training 2007, Interdisciplinary Food Security as a module, participated in FAO/WFP & UKZN workshop on Food Security Monitoring & Measurement in 2008; and attended seminars such as Allan Paton Memorial Lectures and Albert Luthuli Memorial Lectures, Political debates among others. Bernard has for the past years been planning, working on website development, and compiling documents towards self employment as his ideal goal. He is ardent believer in African positive traditions and values, and African indigenous knowledge and systems as essential for African continent's growth and positive transformation. Nevertheless, he has a broad-global outlook and gets along with people of all races and ethnicities. He is currently working on developing training materials and further research in various disciplines and publishing articles on THEMbos-dev website and in other international Journals.
Bernard has received some academic awards and awards of merit: Graduate Award, University of KwaZulu-Natal - 2007/06/05/04; Ghana Baptist Convention Award of merit - Dedication in work - 1998; Association of Baptist Business Executives (ABBEX) Cash Award - 1996; First Christian Service College - Alumni Award (Best All-round student) - 1992; Tear Fund Scholarship - 1991/92; and Best-English Pupil Award - 1969.
His spend some of his spare time in areas of interest or hobbies such as reading; sports: watching soccer & playing squash; galaxy issues; TV documentaries, Art: designing, decorating & craft arts; gardening; small gadgets; photography; music; and travel which has taking him to Nigeria, Togo, travel through Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger, Lesotho, Swaziland and other places in South Africa. Outside Africa he has attended a conference in The Netherlands and a short holiday in Germany.
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