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Ghana's Chief Fire Officer, Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, has added another laurel to his achievements by being adjudged the best in Africa in Occupational Health and Safety by the African Forum Scotland Centre for Policy, Research and Development.

The African Forum Scotland Centre for Policy, Research and Development is the research arm of the African Forum Scotland (AFS). Dr Gaisie is the only African and first Ghanaian to be recognised as a proud recipient of the international award.

“Our background research and due diligence have identified and recognised your significant transformational leadership contribution in Health and Safety within Ghana and the entire West Africa Sub-Region. It is my pleasure to invite you to receive Fellowship and Membership Award of AFS and from our research arm, the ‘African Forum Scotland Centre for Policy, Research and Development.

“Accordingly, we are delighted to inform you that you have been unanimously nominated to be conferred as a Fellow and Member of Africa Forum Scotland. An induction ceremony for your conferment will be held in Scotland in partnership with the University of West of Scotland on Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 1p.m.

“You will be expected to present a paper on ‘The way forward in transforming the policy direction of Health and Safety within the West African Sub-Region’, with Ghana as a case study.”

From now onwards, Sir, you are entitled to use the designation FCERPODS.” A correspondence signed by Beltus Etchu Ojong, Group Executive President, African Forum Scotland, dated May 31, 2017 and copied to Ghana’s Interior Minister, noted. AFS is a strategic body that promotes investment and trade between Scotland and Africa and equally acts as an African-focused economic and socio-political think thank based in Scotland.

Its mission is to facilitate the creation, translation and utilisation of empirical research evidence and market intelligence to support effective policy formation and to influence policy and help underpin the sound implementation of beneficial resource allocation within Africa.

AFS and its extensive partners actively collaborate with a consortium of academic, industry and professional bodies on multi-disciplinary active research agenda, especially in areas of Economic Policy, Security, Enterprise Research, Ethnicity and Enterprise, International Trade Relations, Education, Health and Safety among others.

Not long ago, Dr Gaisie was adjudged Africa’s best Chief Fire Officer and has won many other international awards for his leadership that had transformed the Ghana National Fire Service into a modern firefighting institution. His hard work had paid off again with the government approving a 20% rent allowance for all personnel who have rented rooms, as well as those who live in their own houses. Since 1963, personnel of the service have never been paid rent allowance.

When the DAILY HERITAGE visited the Fire Service headquarters to gauge the mood there, the paper found ecstatic personnel who had just received their rent allowance for January with back pay in the offing. They commended the government and the Chief Fire Officer for the efforts to make life comfortable for them.