By Oyeniyi Iwakun
The immediate past Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA), Dr Kofi Mbiah is to be honoured this weekend, Saturday 23rd September, 2017 in Lagos, Nigeria by a group of friends.
According to one of the organizers of the event, who chose to be anonymous, “the event is a dinner in honour of a great African on retirement. Kofi is a man of the people who has touched lives in numerous ways. He held forth as CEO of GSA for ten years and has made so much contributions to the development of the maritime industry in Africa.”
Dr Mbiah started his working career at the GSA in 1982 as an Assistant Legal Officer and rose through the ranks to become the CEO in 1999, making him the longest serving CEO of the Authority.
He would always be remembered for his uncommon legacy which includes; unparalleled motivation of staff for increased output, building a robust corporate culture, improved staff welfare and a high staff morale, crafting of the vision, mission and organizational values of the Authority as well as four five-yearly strategic plans that ensured that the Authority traversed on a clearly defined path in ensuring the strengthening of its structures for delivering on its mandate of protecting and promoting the interests of shippers in Ghana.
Dr Mbiah’s other heritage at GSA are institutionalisation of Maritime Law Seminar for Judges in Ghana, Maritime Law and International Trade Seminar for the Trade and Transport Industry and the annual Maritime Seminar for Media Personnel and the compilation of The Admiral – A Compendium, which consolidates all the papers delivered at the maritime law seminars for judges of the superior courts over a decade.
By dint of accomplishment, he became the main face of Ghana at a number of Maritime conferences across the world and For over 20 years Dr Mbiah led Ghana’s delegation to the sessions of the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization; serving as vice chairman of the Legal Committee for over ten years and later as Chairman for six years. He was the first black man to hold the position.
Dr Mbiah in the maritime world is acclaimed to have contributed immensely to the development of various international maritime instruments; the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (Rotterdam Rules).
GSA under his leadership won numerous and in his personal capacity also received several awards as a beacon of excellence and for his commitment and dedication to duty at both national and international levels which includes; The IMLI Graduate International Achievement Award, Honour for distinguished service to the work of the International Maritime Organisation; Africa Maritime and Energy Personality award (2012) , Top Five inspirational public sector leaders in Ghana (2012) , The African Maritime and Energy (AME) Evergreen Award (2014) and National Achievers Award given by the Northern Youth for Peace and Development (NYUPED).
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