Named the Institute of Public Administration, GIMPA was established in 1961 as a joint Ghana Government/United Nations (UN) special fund project established as one of the key strategic institutions to develop the public administrative system, to produce civil servants with administrative and professional competence, and to plan and administer national, regional and local services.
In 1966, the joint sponsorship ended and the UN formally handed over the Institute to the Government of Ghana. The Institute was then re-designated Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration in 1969 to reflect its expanded functions.
Over the past 49 years, GIMPA’s activities have been guided by five successive mandates from beginning with the first legislative instrument of 1961 to the current GIMPA Act, 2004 (Act 676). Each mandate affirmed the status of the Institute as the national leading management development institute to provide the study of public administration and management of Ghana. By the new mandate, GIMPA can now offer courses leading to the award of certificates, diplomas and degrees up to the doctoral level in its areas of competence. The area of competence is defined to include training and education in the areas of leadership, management, public administration and technology.
Today, GIMPA has transformed itself into the leading management development institute in Ghana with a vision of becoming a world class Centre of Excellence for training in Leadership, Management and Administration, Policy Analysis, Consultancy and Research, Distance Learning, Gender and Development programmes. The key to GIMPA’s success over the years has been consistency of purpose. Through the provision of high quality programmes and services, caring faculty, customized educational approaches and the cultivation of a participant-centred learning environment, GIMPA has contributed to the national development efforts by building the much-needed capacity development.
GIMPA is an independent public tertiary institution with financial and operational autonomy. The Institute has effectively stopped receiving government subventions and has become financially autonomous. GIMPA has learnt to earn substantially its own keeps, thriving on significantly revamped, redesigned, demand-driven and expanded programme offerings. GIMPA is now a self-financing organization with a new structure to meet its new mandate.
