From Learning Under Streetlights to a Senior Clinical Engineering Manager at KATH: Meet Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby

• Ing. Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby is a Senior Clinical Engineering Manager and Head of the Electrical Engineering Unit at KATH in Ghana
• He had a rough path to accessing education due to his deprived background but overcame the challenges to achieve his goals
• From hawking, learning under streetlights, and earning a degree, to his innovations, Wireko-Brobby tells YEN.com.gh all about his life

Ing. Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby grew up in love but in poverty predominantly with his doting mother in Ashanti New Town in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

His father, Edward Wireko-Brobby, and his mother, Nana Asantewaa Mainoo, separated when he was very young and had to live with his mother, who was keen on his education.

Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby's early childhood and education

Born on May 7, 1975, the last child of five children had a healthy bond between himself, his grandmother, his mother, and other siblings.

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But love was not enough and a medium of exchange to shield him from the difficulties he experienced in his academic pursuit due to extreme financial constraints.

''I started at K.O Methodist School, Ashanti New Town Kumasi, from class one to junior secondary school (JSS), now junior high school (JHS). We were the first batch of JSS introduced by the late former president Jerry John Rawlings. We started in 1987 and ended in 1990,'' he told YEN.com.gh.

Emmanuel recounted that his mother financed his education from the basic level to JSS. ''My father came in during the latter part of my junior secondary school.''

His mother worked as a Revenue Collector and later became a Senior Revenue Superintendent at Kumasi City Council (KCC), now Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), to cater for their upkeep. But she became unemployed in 1983 for three years, making life difficult for the family. ''She was called back after two/three years,'' he recalled.

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Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby jostles hawking with his studies

Before Emmanuel completed JSS, he had lost interest in classroom education and wanted to focus attention on his trade.

''I saw money early; I was engaged in roadside trade to support myself. I sat my mom down one day and told her I wanted to discontinue school, but she asked me to finish for her.''

Financing his education became less burdensome when his father joined forces with his mother during the latter part of JSS but passed on in 1991 before Emmanuel completed Technology Secondary School, Tech Sec, now KNUST Senior High School.

Emmanuel recalls he was part of the first batch of senior secondary school (SSS) students at Tech Sec, where he pursued his interest in Applied Electricity from 1991 to 1993. He tells YEN.com.gh that his JSS headteacher selected the school for him knowing Emmanuel's interest in repairing damaged electronics.

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''I enrolled at Tech Sec as a Building Technology student but later studied Metal Works and ended up writing my final examination in Applied Electricity due to a lack of tutors.''

While at Tech Sec, Emmanuel had to overcome herculean challenges as he had to walk over a mile daily from Ashanti New Town to Amakom Roundabout in Kumasi to reduce the cost of transportation to school and access education while jostling his studies with his trade to support himself.

''I close from school, get home, find something to eat, rinse myself, and at night I go and continue my trading. Mostly, you'd find me studying under streetlights because I trade from 6 pm to 11 pm - deep into the night alongside my trading.

''My mom was taking care of the fees, but I sold cigarettes, sweets, and matches to support myself,'' he recounted, adding that he quit selling cigarettes after he became a ''born-again'' Christian. ''It brought down my profit, but I traded till I finished SSS.''

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Balancing his studies with his work, coupled with the problem of inadequate educational resources for his programme in SSS, had a toll on his academic performance.

''At the end of the programme, it was a bombshell for the whole nation ... that was when you go to a big school in Ghana and find one or three students passing all subjects. My school wasn't exempted.

''The government, through the Minister of Education, said that all final year students should go for a re-sit free of charge. But this one, I stood my ground and stayed at home.''

After two years at home, Emmanuel heeded an uncle's advice to return to school to follow his passion for mechanics. He enrolled in Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI) from 1995 to 1997. He recalls his uncle financed his education and Emmanuel did not disappoint him. ''I performed so well.''

Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby's adult life and education

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From KTI, Emmanuel earned an Electrical Engineering Technicians Certificate at the Kumasi Polytechnic, now Kumasi Technical University. After his national service in 2004, he stayed at home for years before landing a job as a sales, marketing, and research officer at the Kessben Group of Companies in 2007.

By 2009, life smiled on Emmanuel as he secured full employment with the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi as a Clinical Engineering Technologist. In 2011, he enrolled in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where he received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

He tells YEN.com.gh that he had to balance his studies at KNUST and work at KATH from 2011 to 2014/15. ''I have risen through the ranks to become a Senior Clinical Engineering Manager and Head of the Electrical Engineering Unit at KATH.''

How Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby is impacting society with his innovations

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At 47, Engineer Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby has produced life-changing innovations, including building prosthetic arms from waste plastics.

''I've been thinking about my contribution towards addressing plastic waste in the ecosystem and my brothers, the amputees. So I had to bring the two together to see where it fits,'' he said.

Aside from the prosthetic arms, the senior clinical engineer at KATH has invented a theatre lamp, a phototherapy machine, and a sandal crutch to aid the mobility of persons with disabilities.

''I designed the sandal crutch to help people with difficulty walking, especially the physically challenged. It will help them carry out their normal duties without difficulty,'' he told YEN.com.gh.

Emmanuel Wireko-Brobby's inventions earn him awards

His innovations have earned him several awards. He was recognised at the 2021 and 2022 Engineering Excellence Awards. Now, the genius wants to pursue his master's degree.

''I gained admission to read Mechatronics at the University of Wolverhampton, but for lack of support, I couldn't honour,'' he said.

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The mountain of challenges he had to overcome to receive an education has enabled him to better connect with the deprived. He tells YEN.com.gh that he would ensure his children have a lesser turbulent path to access education.

''For what I went through, I have vowed to give my children the best education, no matter how it affects me. If I had gotten the same, I would have changed the world.''

From 4Fs in WASSCE to Earning PhD from a UK University: The Uplifting Story of a Ghanaian Scholar

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh previously highlighted the story of George Asiamah. Born in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, Asiamah received his early education in his native country before relocating to the UK to earn his doctoral degree.

He grew up and lived predominantly in Atwima Chichibong, a small village in the region. He received his early and some tertiary education in the region.

Source: YEN.com.gh