Kwesi Kwaa Prah

Early life

Prah was born in Ghana, and grew up there until the age of 18, when in the early 1960s he went to Leiden University in the Netherlands to study Sociology. He went on to attend the University of Amsterdam and also travelled to Germany before returning to Ghana.

Upon his return, he started to run into problems with the government. The government created problems regarding the education system. They started arresting and censoring many of the people who went against the government and their ideas regarding the education system. This caused Prah to decide to start a campaign to free his colleagues. Soon the government was looking to arrest him, so he left for South Africa where he had contact with the Pan-African society. In South Africa, he became the director of sociology at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).

Career

Prah has worked at a number of universities across Africa, Europe, and Asia. In Germany, he got his first teaching job at Heidelberg University. Later on, he became Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. In 1981, Prah became a Professor at the University of Juba. He was head of the Social Science Interface Research Unit of the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya.

In 1985, Prah moved to the Institute of Southern African Studies in the National University of Lesotho. He became a professor at the university and conducted research. He took the title of Head of the Research Divisions. From 1988 to 1992, Prah was a Principal Research Scientist for the Social Science Interface Research. In 1992, he became a Professor of Sociology in South Africa.

In 1997 Prah founded the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS). Currently, Prah is the director of CASAS in Cape Town, South Africa.

He makes an appearance in the 2010 documentary film Motherland by Owen 'Alik Shahadah.

Prah chaired the convening committee of the 8th Pan-African Congress that was held in South Africa in 2014.

Publications

Prah is a published author of books and articles that discuss African emancipation, Pan-Africanism, race, oppression, and politics. His most noted papers include Challenges to the Promotion of Indigenous Languages in South Africa, Reflections on the Annals of Neocolonialism, and Realities of African Governance and the Relevance of Higher Education; Problems and Prospects. His papers regard what Africa has gone through over the years in its transformation. Also, they address what struggles the continent has faced and may face in the future.

Along with writing papers, he has had many speeches and books about that address similar topics as his papers but in more depth. Some of his books include Africa in Transformation Vol. 1, Between Distinction and Extinction, and Beyond The Colour Line. He has written about 30 books for his organization CASAS.

Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society

In 1997 Prah founded the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Studies (CASAS), the main focus of which is the economic, social, cultural, and political aspects that have led to the current development of Africa. CASAS’ focus on African cultural issues and how they relate to Africa’s development which is not commonly found in other African research groups. CASAS employs experts in the field of African Society and the majority of their hires come from African institutions. CASAS is registered as a non-profit organization in South Africa and seeks most of its funding from donations. Currently, CASAS is involved in the movement to classify African languages into groups that can be mutually understood as part of their Harmonization and Standardization of African Languages Project. Other projects CASAS is participating in include publishing their fundamental research as a monograph series as well as publishing other papers on topics that fit the center's primary objectives.

Awards