Former Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, and CEO of 3Music Network, Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu, headlined a compelling TEK TALK event at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where they delivered messages on the need to reframe politics as a tool for sustainable national development.
The event, organized by the KNUST Students’ Representative Council (SRC) under the theme “Pioneering National Transformation through Politics, Finance, and Entertainment”, brought together students, young professionals, and thought leaders to explore how politics intersects with other sectors to drive progress.
Dr. Adutwum, who also serves as the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe, used the platform to call out what he described as “slash and burn” politics — a tendency by political actors to reject or undermine good policies from opposing parties merely for partisan advantage.
“Sometimes, your opponents know what you're doing is right, but they say it’s bad in order to score political points,” Dr. Adutwum said. He cited the example of the E-blocks project initiated under a previous government, noting that instead of discarding it, the focus should be on making such infrastructure more functional. “I’ve always said that E-blocks were a good thing, but if the location is not suitable for a Day School, I will add a dormitory block so that the building becomes useful to the community,” he explained.
To ensure continuity and national focus in development, Dr. Adutwum proposed a bipartisan approach to critical national commissions. “If we have some critical national commissions in the future, let’s look at how we can do bipartisan representation, where if the party in power selects three people, the party that is not in power can select two,” he suggested.
Highlighting how his political career has served as a force for good, he revealed: “I sponsored 150 students in my constituency to become engineers and doctors. I also championed STEM education, and now STEM is a household word. And so, politics can be a ‘force for good’ for national transformation.”
Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu also brought a creative industry perspective to the conversation, stressing that politics sets the foundation upon which other sectors, including entertainment and finance, are built.
“Politics sets the tone and avenue for national transformation,” Baba Sadiq stated. “Creating a political environment is the genesis of having a very strong economy. If politics sets the tone, everything else can be built on it, including finance.”
The TEK TALK session emphasized the need for leaders across sectors to collaborate and for young people to see politics not as a dirty game but as a vehicle for visionary leadership and national progress.
