The Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS), held it’s 4th Congregation Ceremony on the 22nd of November 2025 Awarding Degrees and Diplomas to deserving students.

The Chancellor , Prof Benjamin Kumbuor, Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Clement Apaak and many others were present.

SPEECH DELIVERED BY PROFESSOR EMMANUEL KANCHEBE DERBILE THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AT THE 4TH CONGREGATION HELD ON SATURDAY, 22ND NOVEMBER, 2025, AT THE NEW AUDITORIUM, BAMAHU CAMPUS, WA, UPPER WEST REGION OF GHANA

Good morning and a warm welcome to you all!
It is a great honour and privilege to address you at this 4th Congregation of the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS). It is a day of joy for two main reasons. First, we gather to celebrate the hard work, resilience, and achievements of our graduating students, who have reached a major milestone in their academic training. Secondly, we also gather to bear witness to the resilience and relevance of our University to national development, the outcome of our collective effort – Council, Management, Convocation and our external stakeholders.

Celebrating our Graduands, University and Visionary Leadership
To our graduating students, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to every single one of you. You have persevered through the demands of academic life and emerged successful. Today’s ceremony marks years of dedication, sacrifice, and determination to merit the awards you are expecting today.
At this 4th Congregation of the University, a total of 2,183 students will be awarded various degrees. This comprises 688 postgraduates (including 10 PhDs, 30 MPhils and more than 500 MScs) and 1,495 undergraduates and diplomas. Of the total number of undergraduate degrees, 132 (12%) are graduating with a First Class, 663 (60%) graduating with a Second Class Upper, and 312 (3%) graduating with a Third Class. For Diploma, we have 42(12%) Distinctions and 308(88%) passes. This remarkable achievement underscores the University’s commitment to academic excellence, research, and professional development, in producing skilled graduates ready to contribute to national and global development.

Your Excellency, Chairman of Council, Distinguished Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. Kindly permit me to remind all of us that on 12th July this year, the University held its Maiden Special Congregation during which 62 Law students of the School of Law graduated with LLB degrees. Out of this number, 42 of them took the Professional Law Entrance Examination in September this year. I am pleased to report that 27 (64%) of them passed the examination to commence the professional leg of their training. This is a significant milestone for our School of Law, the University, northern Ghana and country at large. For the first time in the history of tertiary education in Ghana, 58 years after Independence, a University in northern Ghana conferred LLB degrees to graduating students and is presenting 27 of them to the Ghana Law School for the professional training required for a call to the BAR. In this regards, this gathering should also be for celebration of the visionary leadership that extended tertiary education to northern Ghana.
Back to our graduands: As you leave the gates of this University, I call on every single one of you to be good ambassadors of the University. Let me remind you that the knowledge, skills and values you have acquired here should not only empower your career progressions. I call on you to be good change agents, shaping your communities, industries, and the nation with integrity, creativity, and compassion.

Infrastructure and Infrastructure Development
Your Excellency, Hon Chairman of Council, Distinguished invited guests. As you may be aware, the biggest challenge of the University is the huge infrastructure deficit arising from funding challenges. If the University is to achieve the transformational development that it is setting in its new Five-Year Strategic Plan, meeting certain minimal infrastructure development needs is an imperative!

We are grateful to Government for starting some five (5) GETFund projects for the University. Four (4) of these projects including the library, two lecture halls and office complexes and a hostel project remain largely uncompleted more than 10 years since they were started. We therefore, need to explore innovative ways to financing our infrastructure development for use within the shortest possible time.

One of such innovations is the ‘Accelerated GETFund Infrastructure completion Initiative that the University started implementing at the beginning of this year. With the approval of Council, this special initiative draws on IGF and other funding sources to accelerate the rate of completion of selected priority projects. I am pleased to report that the initiative is yielding some positive results, including the completion of this new auditorium and the 4-storey Interim Central Administration Block.

We are still working hard at our target to complete and move to the new interim administration block this year to pave the way for relocating Faculties/Schools occupying rented premises in town to Campus. I want to use this opportunity to thank the Chairman of Council and Council for the immense interest, leadership and support towards the execution of this agenda.

Kindly permit me to acknowledge the cooperation of the following contractors: Messrs Sunlu Ghana Ltd, Gidigo Electrical Works Ltd and Tungsung Ltd. These contractors deserve commendation for their cooperation with management! For those contractors not cooperating enough with us, I want to serve NOTICE that the University has now reached the non-tolerance stage and will take all necessary steps to remedy the situation. Our students and staff also deserve an improved teaching and learning environment NOW and not later. If you do not have the capacity, commitment and time for us; it is time to quit the projects for reliable partners to take over!

Your Excellency, Chairman of Council, and Distinguished Invited Guests, under the accelerated infrastructure initiative, we have also constructed a Cafeteria, a Fire Station and a Lecturers Common Room to support the operations of the University. We are also making efforts to complete our Master Plan and implementing multiple boundary protection measures, beautification and greening of the University Campus to make it more attractive to our students.

The School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences

Your Excellency, the University continues to chart new and strategic grounds in the development of market driven academic programmes relevant for both regional and national development. One of such priority areas is medicine and allied health sciences. I am pleased to announce that the proposal and curricular for the establishment of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences is ready. The proposed programmes include Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, BSc. General Nursing, BSc Midwifery, and BSc Public Health Nursing. The others include BSc. Health Promotion, BSc. Public Health Nutrition and BSc. Environmental Health and Sanitation. The proposal for the new school will be put before Council this year. Council considers the School of Medicine and Health Sciences a top priority for the University. In addition to the Upper West Regional Hospital, the technical team is in the process of assessing the capacities of health training institutions and health facilities in Tumu, Nandom and Jirapa for possible designations as satellite training facilities.

Kindly permit me to express my sincere gratitude and acknowledgement of Dr. John K B Tampouri, Immediate past CEO of the Ho Teaching Hospital who is leading our effort in the development of the medical programmes; Dr. Phillip Baabiineh Ag Direcor UWR Hospital and his management team for their commitment and collaboration; and the University’s Committee on Health Programmes led by Prof. Sylvester Z. Galaa. I also thank the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of Academic Programmes Committee, Professor Issaka Kanton Osumanu for his leadership. I thank all other persons who are supporting this initiative.

Gratitude to our Stakeholders

Your Excellency, Hon Chairman of Council, Distinguished invited Guests, Ladies and gentlemen. Kindly permit me to express our gratitude to His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of Ghana (through the Minister for Education, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu) for the allocation of GHS 10 Million Seed Money to the University. We will apply these funds to improve our infrastructure and operations. Although this amount will make a difference, the infrastructure and funding gap is huge. On behalf of the University, I want to APPEAL TO THE PRESIDENT THROUGH THE HON MINISTER FOR EDUCATION FOR A SPECIAL FUNDING WINDOW TO COMPLETE ALL GETFund POJECTS ON CAMPUS BEFORE THE END OF NEXT YEAR. In October this year, the University presented a budget of One Hundred and Ninety-Three Million Ghana Cedis (193 Million Ghana Cedis) to GTEC as the amount required from Government/GETFund for completing these projects on campus.

Let me also acknowledge and thank the Former Council, and in particular, Kweku Y. Paintsil, Esq. (Former Chairman of Council), Prof. Philip Duku Osei (Former VC and Member of Council), Naa Puowele Karbo III, Former Council Member and all other members of the First Governing Council for their contributions to the development of the University.

We are also grateful to the Hon. Regional Minister Charles Lwanga Puozuing, Esq. and the RCC, GTEC, GETFund, the Regional House of Chiefs and Traditional Leaders. We are grateful to the heads of the regional security agencies, Police, Fire Service and Prison Service. In the same vein, we are grateful to Regional Directors of Health Services, Education and Environmental Health and Sanitation and the Medical Director of the Regional Hospital. Thanks to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wa and Regional Chief Imam.

I also acknowledge the dedication of our staff, both teaching and non-teaching, for their tireless commitment to excellence. To the parents and guardians of our graduating students, we say thank you for you.

Permit, your Excellency and Chairman of Council, to acknowledge in a very special way my dad, Mr. Derbile Stephen Anglaamwine, retired educationist and my aunt, Mrs. Jane Azaah Derbile who are here to support and to bear witness to the graduation of two of my siblings.

Conclusion
Once again, congratulations to our graduating students. You have made us proud. Go forth and make a difference, be good ambassadors of the University and stand for excellence, integrity, and service wherever you find yourselves.
To all gathered here today, thank you for joining us in celebrating this significant moment in the life of our University. Together, we will continue to build the University into a model institution of higher learning that inspires hope, drives innovation, and transforms lives.
Thank you, and may God bless us all.

Ye Barika

Prof. Emmanuel Kanchebe Derbile
Vice-Chancellor