Chief Justice charges engineers to adhere to code of ethics

The Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, has charged engineering practitioners in the country to adhere to their code of ethics and eschew corruptible practices.

She said issues such as corruption, safety concerns and the non-adherence to code of ethics had always dented the nobility of the engineering profession.

She added that engineers shaped infrastructure, propelled technological advancement and drove innovation and that their role was pivotal to the progress and prosperity of the nation.

Justice Torkornoo made the remarks when she chaired the 2023 Annual Ethics and Leadership Lecture of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), held at the Engineers Centre in Accra last Friday.

Choice

She said the choice of the theme: “Improving National Values, Professional Practice and Engineering Ethics”, was demonstrative of the fact that the engineering profession recognised its traditional role in Ghana.

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Professional Practice & Ethics Committee of the GhIE, Ludwig Hesse, explained that in pursuit of ethical excellence within the engineering profession, engineers must recognise the pivotal role of national values in shaping the landscape of their conduct. 

Professionals

He said although numerous professionals, engineers included, held leadership positions within public institutions and belonged to professional organisations such as the GhIE, “we seldomly witness these professional bodies holding their members to account.

The President of the GhIE, Kwabena Bempong, in his remarks, said as engineering practitioners, they recognised the enormous responsibility placed on them in the infrastructural development of the country and the world at large.

He continued that engineers had a sacred responsibility towards society.

The participants

“Lack of ethical behaviour on the part of engineers could have disastrous trust, safety, financial and economic implications on our beloved country and the professional reputation would thus be irredeemably damaged,” the GhIE president added.

The Guest Speaker for the lecture, Yaw Nsarkoh, who is a Chemical Engineer by profession and a renowned public speaker, suggested that any professional engineer who did a sloppy and shoddy job and deliberately caused mass injury and fatalities should be jailed and struck off his or her professional role.

Speaking to journalists, the Executive Director of the GhIE, David Kwatia Nyante, said the institution represented over 10,000 registered professionals spread over four main technical divisions, namely civil, electrical, mechanical and chemical technical divisions.

He said modern engineering disciplines such as computer engineering, aerospace, biomedical, petroleum, oil and gas etc, were all grouped under one of those divisions.

The well-attended GhIE Ethics and Leadership lecture was attended by the Vice-President of the GhIE, Sophia Abena Tijani, council members, past presidents, members of the GhIE and the media.