INTRODUCTION
In this edition, “The HR News” honours this distinguished individual, one of the foremost Labour Experts and Renowned Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Practitioner in Africa and the second President of the National Governing Council of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners during whose tenure, the then Ghana Institute of Personnel Management (GIPM) was transformed from GIPM to the current Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP), Ghana. Indeed, the story of the life of our profiled personality, is an example of how a person can evolve as the years pass.
Early Life
Long before he could reach his current respectable status as a Fellow of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP), Ghana and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gamey and Gamey Group, an affiliate of PULSE Institute International, Calgary, Canada and the University of Virgin Islands, USA, Austin was born in Volo Community specifically in the Salem hood in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region of Ghana on 26th October, 1949.
Born to the late Mr. Emmanuel T.T. Avorvuttor, a man Austin describes as “one of the most gifted people ever” and an agrarian and petty trading mother, the late Madam Lucia Aya Avorvuttor, Austin have nostalgic memories of both of them. Popularly known as Akufo as a young boy in his native community, Austin who was christened Augustine was originally named as Augustine Akufo Gameduabao only for the “Augustine” to be shortened to Austin while the Ewe name “Gameduabao” was also transformed to Gamey.
The fifth born of his mother, Austin is currently one out of the five surviving siblings of his mother.
Austin Gamey is married to Mrs Gladys Gamey, a retired teacher and blessed with seven adult children of four young men and three young ladies.
Educational Background
A product of Accra Polytechnic (now Accra Technical University), Austin started his education at the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Primary School in Volo in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region. From there he proceeded to the Local Authority (L/A) Middle School in Volo. Following the rather strange cancellation of the North Tongu District’s WAEC results of his year group’s Middle School Leaving Certificate Examination, Austin had to relocate from his native Volo Community to stay with his senior brother at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region in 1967 and subsequently in Tema in 1968. Anxious to continue his education, Austin was fortunate as his sporting prowess got him admitted by his late headmaster Mr. McCarthy, to form 3 during the 2nd term at the Akodzo Middle School in Tema.
This enabled him to re-write the Middle School Living Certificate Examination which he successfully passed in 1968. While at Akodzo Middle School, Austin displayed so much skills in his passion for sports and in one such, he got named as the captain of the school’s volley ball team which got him an opportunity to play for the National Volley Ball Team in 1969. Additionally, he represented the school in the long distance athletics from where he had the accolade “Akodzo Miller.”
Is Austin Born with a Golden Spoon in the Mouth?
Contrary to public perception of such national figures, Austin who smilingly described himself as a “tired Man” points to his own life as an example of how a person can evolve with determination as the years pass. The featured speaker at several national and international academic and business forums who now inspires and motivates thousands out of his several years of consultancy and training experience gained from work activities, training, research and benchmarking programmes in Ghana, U.S.A., Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Canada, Denmark and Norway emerged from a humble background.
For instance, he recalled that, as a young man and financially challenged yet anxious for academic pursuits, he had to navigate his way through life by taking up some weekend part-time menial jobs at the Accra Sports Stadium where he could raise fees for the Secretaryship and Office Management programme at the Accra Polytechnic. Thus, pursuant of his dreams, he relocated to Adabraka, a suburb of Accra where he perched with colleagues and embarked on the self-financing programme of studies from 1970 to 1971. Since then, Austin Gamey during his professional practice has been passionate and strategic in embarking on further progressive learning and in the process, obtained strategic certificates at various levels of education and training including: