Pharmacist William Delali Ofori has challenged the 2026 graduating class of the University of Ghana's Doctor of Pharmacy programme to shake up Ghana's healthcare system rather than settle into comfortable routines behind the counter. He issued the call during the graduation ceremony held at the university's Great Hall on Friday, November 13, 2026, according to GhanaWeb.
The message landed hard with a class that spent six years mastering clinical pharmacy, and it carries weight far beyond one auditorium. Ghana imports the bulk of its medicines, and Ofori framed that dependence as a strategic vulnerability the new graduates are uniquely placed to fix.
“Go out there and be unreasonable”
Ofori, who delivered the congregation address, told the graduates that a pharmacy degree demands more than dispensing. He pushed them onto hospital wards, into laboratories, and eventually into boardrooms where decisions about drug manufacturing actually get made.
“So I'm asking you all, go out there and be unreasonable. Challenge the status quo. First, be a clinician and not a shopkeeper. I don't think you spent six years learning pharmacokinetics to count tablets and give change,” he said.
His advice was blunt and specific. He urged the graduates to walk onto wards and ask the questions nobody else asks, to create a seat for pharmacists where none exists, and to start antimicrobial stewardship programmes with or without a budget. He also told them to report falsified medicines and to build digital record systems for rural clinics instead of waiting for permission.
“A nation that cannot make its own medicines has outsourced its health security. Some of you belong in labs, factories and boardrooms, not only behind the counter,” Ofori said.
He had a word for the diaspora too. Whether graduates practise at Korle-Bu in Accra or Kent in the United Kingdom, he asked them to bring something back home: knowledge, partnership, investment, or simply themselves.
Unfilled roles and unemployed pharmacists
Ofori pointed to a paradox at the heart of Ghana's pharmacy sector. The country trains clinicians to a high standard, yet many health facilities that dispense medicines still operate without a pharmacist on staff.
“Even so, we are not fulfilling the roles we already have. Because to me, every health facility that dispenses medicines must have a pharmacist. That is not the situation. If it were, there would be no pharmacists out of jobs,” he said.
That gap between training capacity and deployment is exactly the kind of problem the graduating class can convert into opportunity. Rural clinics without pharmacists are also clinics without digital records, without stewardship programmes, and without anyone verifying that what is on the shelf is genuine. Each of those gaps is a business case waiting to be written, and Ofori made clear he expects this generation to write it.
University of Ghana's Vice-Chancellor commends the School of Pharmacy
Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, praised the School of Pharmacy for a string of achievements, including awards won by members of the school. She credited the dean, faculty, staff, and students for a culture of excellence in teaching, mentorship, and research.
“As we celebrate these successes, I encourage the school to sustain this culture of excellence, deepen its contribution to pharmaceutical education and research, and continue preparing graduates who will make meaningful contributions to healthcare delivery in Ghana, across Africa and beyond,” she said.
Her words align with a wider shift in higher education. Institutions around the world are retooling curricula around real-world challenges and systems thinking rather than rote learning. Times Higher Education reports that United World Colleges is piloting a learning model that puts real-world challenges at the heart of education, with graduates learning to organise at scale and address systemic problems. The University of Ghana's insistence on clinical depth plus professional assertiveness points in the same direction.
Employers increasingly reward exactly the trait Ofori demanded of the class. TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, says its engineers are encouraged to challenge the status quo and experiment with new methods, treating that mindset as core to innovation. Graduates who can question long-standing practices, whether in a Ghanaian hospital or a global firm, will find the skill travels well.
Valedictorian: “We are no longer students”
Valedictorian Nathaniel Atuahene Opoku thanked faculty, preceptors, and administrators on behalf of his colleagues and urged fellow graduates to stay humble, disciplined, and committed to lifelong learning.
“Though the six years are over, the fond memories will linger on. To our lecturers, preceptors, and administrators, you taught us not only the science but also how to carry ourselves as professionals. We promise to make you proud,” he said.
He reminded the class of the weight of their new title, rooted in the ancient Greek word pharmakon, which means both remedy and poison.
“Our entire profession lives on that thin line between healing and harm. So let us be pharmacists who double-check, listen, explain, and care. Let us stay humble and keep learning because the science will keep changing even though the degree is now bagged,” Opoku said.
What this means for Ghana and the diaspora
The class of 2026 graduates into a health system under real pressure: falsified medicines in circulation, uneven rural coverage, and a pharmaceutical manufacturing base that local players and the government are working to expand. Ghana's push for local vaccine and medicine production needs exactly the kind of talent celebrated at the Great Hall, and Ofori's challenge to build rather than distribute reads like a national economic strategy delivered as personal advice.
For Ghanaians abroad watching the ceremony's message travel, the invitation is explicit. The skills, capital, and networks accumulated in London, Toronto, or Washington are welcome back home, and the Doctor of Pharmacy class of 2026 has been told, in no uncertain terms, that waiting for permission is not an option.
Frequently asked questions
When did the University of Ghana's 2026 pharmacy graduation ceremony take place?
The ceremony was held at the University of Ghana's Great Hall on Friday, November 13, 2026.
Who urged the pharmacy graduates to challenge the status quo?
Pharm. William Delali Ofori, the congregation speaker, told the Doctor of Pharmacy graduates to challenge existing healthcare systems, report falsified medicines, and build local pharmaceutical capacity.
What did the Vice-Chancellor say at the graduation?
Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo commended the School of Pharmacy for its awards and achievements and urged it to keep deepening its contribution to pharmaceutical education, research, and healthcare delivery.
What message was given to graduates who leave Ghana?
Ofori asked graduates practising abroad, whether in Korle-Bu or Kent in the UK, to bring knowledge, partnership, investment, or themselves back to Ghana.