Renowned political philosopher and distinguished Mfantsipim alumnus, Professor Ato Sekyi-Otu, delivered a moving tribute during the launch of the final book by F. L. Bartels, the legendary former headmaster of Mfantsipim School.
Speaking to an audience deeply connected to the Kwabotwe tradition, Sekyi-Otu’s address went beyond nostalgia. It offered a profound reflection on national purpose, the ideals of education, and the enduring moral compass embodied by Bartels.
Drawing from his own experience as Head Prefect—an appointment made by Bartels—Sekyi-Otu invoked powerful contrasts between the values of the past and the challenges of the present. He urged the audience to reimagine Ghana’s postcolonial future through a renewed commitment to civic responsibility, meritocracy, and critical self-renewal.
With poetic insight and philosophical precision, he reminded listeners that Mfantsipim was never intended to serve parochial or tribal interests. Instead, it was founded to cultivate the “soul of the people,” positioning both the school and the nation as custodians of the common good—built on justice, innovation, and inclusive progress.
His tribute, at once solemn and stirring, called on Ghanaians to return to the foundational values of shared nationhood. Echoing Bartels’ own words, Sekyi-Otu urged his compatriots to embrace the transformative identity of a “new being” among earthlings—not as victims of history, but as active participants in its imaginative reconstruction.
Professor Ato Sekyi-Otu is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Social Science and the Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought at York University. Born in Saltpond in 1941, he attended Mfantsipim School from 1955 to 1961, serving as Head Prefect in his final year.
Following his time at Kwabotwe, he studied Government at Harvard University, graduating with an A.B. in 1966. He later earned his PhD in political theory from the University of Toronto. For three decades, he was known as Daniel Sackey Walker, until he relinquished what he described as an “exotic designation”—likening it to a foreign beverage brand—and reclaimed his father’s Fantse name.
Sekyi-Otu is the author of Fanon’s Dialectic of Experience (Harvard University Press, 1996), Left Universalism, Africacentric Essays (Routledge, 2019), and Homestead, Homeland, Home: Critical Reflections (Daraja Press, 2023). He has been married to Mansa Sekyi-Otu for sixty years and is the proud father of two daughters and three sons.