The John A. Kufuor Foundation will next month induct a new batch of 25 Kufuor Scholars Program (KSP) to participate in the leadership empowerment initiative. The induction ceremony in Accra on September 23, will be graced by the chairman of the Foundation, former president John Agyekum Kufuor and other dignitaries. The Program class of 2022 will go through a three-year leadership training and mentorship program beginning now until they graduate. After a rigorous and merit-based selection process, 25 people consisting of 16 females and nine males were chosen from a tall list of 2,396 participants who applied to take part in the program. Nine of them are from the University of Ghana (UG), eight from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), four from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), one person from the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), one from Ashesi University and two people from the University of Development Studies (UDS). The occasion will also see the graduation of the Kufuor Scholars Program (KSP) class of 2019 which is graduating after three years of mentorship and training. The Kufuor Scholars Program (KSP), an initiative of the John A. Kufuor Foundation seeks to imbibe effective leadership skills and accountability in tertiary level students so they can help develop the nation. The Program seeks to prepare and groom young people to become transformational leaders for Ghana and Africa. The KSP mentors the youth to be future change agents who are patriotic, selfless, community centred, innovative, creative thinkers and knowledgeable professionals in their respective fields of endeavour. The Program which started in 2015 admits 20 to 25 students every year to participate in a three-year-long training and mentorship that seeks to empower them with ethical problem-solving skills. Four batches have been admitted so far. This will be the second graduating batch following the earlier graduation of the 2018 class. Dr Pascal Brenya who is Coordinator of the Program is urging the incoming scholars to take the best advantage of it to better themselves. “Don’t die while your music is still playing. This is your moment and remember that ‘knowing is not enough-you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do.’ Go and make the Foundation, Ghana and Africa proud,” he said. Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, Prof. Baffuor Agyemang-Duah says they are excited about the high interest in the programme. He says the last 100 shortlisted applicants were all qualified enough to participate in the Program but for limited resources. The CEO says efforts are ongoing to raise more resources to expand the program. “That is why last year, we launched the endowment fund which is for the next five years. So we are steadily building up that kind of funds so we can have more resources to support more students,” he said. “We wish we can retain 100 students a year. But that requires lots of money. So our hope is that our endowment fund will continue raising funds and our benefactors will continue to support us. “Because this is a very worthy course in terms of getting young people to be conscious of their responsibilities in the future,” Prof. Agyemang-Duah said.