Samia Nkrumah | |
---|---|
Chairperson of the Convention People's Party | |
In office September 2011 –September 2015 | |
Preceded by | Ladi Nylander |
Succeeded by | Edmund N. Delle |
Member of Parliament for Jomoro constituency | |
In office 7 January 2009 –6 January 2013 | |
Preceded by | Lee Ocran |
Succeeded by | Francis Kabenlah Anaman |
Personal details | |
Born | Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah 23 June 1960 Aburi,Ghana |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | Michele Melega |
Children | Kwame Thomas Melega |
Parent(s) | Kwame Nkrumah (father) Fathia Nkrumah (mother) |
Relatives | Gamal Nkrumah (brother) Sekou Nkrumah (brother) |
Alma mater | School of Oriental and African Studies |
Occupation | Politician and journalist |
Website | Party website |
Honourable Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah (born 23rd June 1960) [1] is a Ghanaian politician and former chairperson of the Convention People's Party(CPP) making her the first woman to ever head a major political party in Ghana (CPP). [2] In the year 2008 parliamentary election,she won the Jomoro constituency [3] seat at her first attempt. She is the daughter of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,the first President of Ghana. [4]
Samia was born at Aburi in the Eastern Region of Ghana in 1960. [5] She was forced to leave Ghana with her mother and brothers on the day of the 1966 military coup that overthrew Kwame Nkrumah. The family were resettled in Egypt by the Egyptian government. [6] She returned with her family in the year 1975 at the invitation of General Acheampong's National Redemption Council government and attended Achimota School. However,she left the country again when her mother decided to return to Egypt in the early 1980s. Samia proceeded to London,later completing her studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London in the United Kingdom,where she obtained the degree of Bachelor Arabic Studies in the year 1991. She also completed a Master's degree at the same institution in the year 1993. [1]
Honorouble Samia Nkrumah started work as a bank clerk with the London branch of the Bank of India in 1984. She then worked with Al-Ahram as a journalist in various capacities starting from the year 1989. [1] In 2024,she started working on a coconut factory in Jomoro Constituency,an initiative that seeks to make the Jomoro community a Global Hub for Coconut Processing and add value to the lives of the people living there. [7]
In an article about her,entitled "The new Mandela is a woman",the Huffington Post described and analyzed her impact on Ghanaian and African politics. She is one of the founders of Africa Must Unite, [8] which aims to promote Kwame Nkrumah's vision and political culture. [9] As part of this philosophy,she decided to go into active politics in Ghana. [10] In 2023,she intended to contest for the Jomoro Constituency seat as an Independent Candidate in the 2024 Ghanaian general election. [11] Samia Nkrumah,a former member of parliament and chair of a major political party in Ghana,urged the president to veto an anti-LGBT bill,calling it “brutal,harsh,and unjust.”On February 28,Ghana’s parliament passed a draconian bill that increases criminal penalties for consensual same-sex conduct and criminalizes individuals and organizations who advocate for the rights of LGBT people. Additionally,the bill criminalizes failure to report an LGBT person to the authorities and to report anyone who uses their social media platform to produce,publish,or disseminate content promoting activities prohibited by the bill.
Since then,prominent individuals,such as Nkrumah,have urged President Nana Akuffo Addo to reject the bill. This includes a memo from Ghana’s finance minister to the president,warning of the bill’s disastrous economic consequences if it were to become law. [12]
In December 2008,she contested the Jomoro constituency seat in the Western Region of Ghana and beat the incumbent MP,Lee Ocran of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with a majority of 6,571,winning about 50% of the total valid votes cast. [13] [14] Being the only CPP member of parliament,she had to either align with NDC who were the majority in parliament or the minority NPP. [15] She decided on the latter,aligning with the NPP in the House of 5th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana. [16] [17] She represented the constituency from 2011 to 2015. [18]
She became the first woman to ever head a major political party in Ghana. Her victory,along with three other female members of the party,is hailed as marking the renaissance of the ailing CPP,and an affirmation of the party's long held tradition of promoting women's rights. She was elected as the first woman chairperson of the Convention People's Party on 10 September 2011. She won the poll with 1,191 votes,and her nearest contender,the incumbent,polled 353 votes. With this feat,she became the first woman to ever head a major political party in Ghana. She served in this role until 2015. [19] [20]
Samia is the second child and daughter of Kwame Nkrumah, [21] Ghana's first President and Fathia Nkrumah. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana,having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. [4]
An influential advocate of pan-Africanism,Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962. [22]
Samia has two brothers:Gamal Nkrumah,Sekou Nkrumah. She also has an older half-brother,Professor Francis Nkrumah, [23] a retired lecturer and consultant pediatrician who worked as a director at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Legon,Ghana. [24] In July 2023,she had a debate with her brother Sekou Nkrumah on whether their father was a dictator or not. [25]
After her father was overthrown in Ghana's first successful military coup d'état on 24 February 1966, [26] Samia,her mother,and her brothers,had to flee to Cairo,Egypt on a plane sent by Egyptian President,Gamal Abdel Nasser,to stay in the country while her father went into exile in Guinea. [27]
She is married to Michele Melega,an Italian-Danish man. They have a son,Kwame Thomas Melega. [28] [29] Samia is fluent in Arabic,Italian,Danish,and English. She has worked many years as a journalist and media consultant,including in the Egyptian media space. [1] [30] She is also an advocate against child marriage,for women's empowerment,and women's affairs. [31]
Francis Kwame Nkrumah was a Ghanaian politician,political theorist,and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957,when it gained independence from Britain. He was then the first Prime Minister and then the President of Ghana,from 1957 until 1966. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism,Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union in 1962.
The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana,Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).
The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Government of Ghana.
The Nzema are an ethnic group numbering about 328,700,of whom 262,000 live in southwestern Ghana and 66,700 live in the southeast of Côte d'Ivoire. In Ghana the Nzema area is divided into three electoral districts:Nzema East Municipal,also known as Evalue Gwira;Ellembele;and Nzema West,also known as Jomoro. Their language is also known as Nzima or Appolo.
The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was an early nationalist movement with the aim of self-government " in the shortest possible time" founded in August 1947 by educated Africans such as J.B. Danquah,A.G. Grant,R.A. Awoonor-Williams,Edward Akufo Addo,and others,the leadership of the organisation called for the replacement of Chiefs on the Legislative Council with educated persons. whose aim was to bring about Ghanaian independence from their British colonial masters after the Second World War. The United Gold Coast Convention appointed its leaders to include Kwame Nkrumah,who was the Secretary General. However,upon an allegation for plans against Nkrumah's leadership,he was arrested and jailed. The UGCC leadership broke up and Kwame Nkrumah went on a separate way to set up the Convention People's Party (CPP) for the purpose of self-governance. The UGCC was founded in Saltpond.
Helena Ritz Fathia Nkrumah,born Fathia Halim Rizk,was an Egyptian,and the First Lady of the newly independent Ghana as the wife of Kwame Nkrumah,its first president.
Yaw Osafo-Maafo is a Ghanaian politician who was appointed in April as the senior presidential advisor to the Akufo-Addo Administration 2021. He was Senior Minister of the Republic of Ghana in the Akufo-Addo Administration from 2017 to 2021. He was Member of Parliament for Akim Oda from 1997 to 2009,and previously served as Finance Minister and in other cabinet roles in the Kufuor Administration between 2001 and 2009.
Paa Kwesi Nduom or Papa Kwesi Nduom,is a Ghanaian business consultant,politician,and founding member of Ghana's Progressive People's Party. A three-time candidate for president,he was the member of parliament for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem constituency and served as minister of state in the Kufuor government.
Lee Tandoh Ocran was a Ghanaian politician who served as Minister for Education of Ghana from 2012 to 2013. Ocran was appointed Minister by President John Atta Mills in February 2012 in a cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Betty Mould-Iddrisu from the government and the sacking of Martin Amidu.
Michael Abu Sakara Foster is a Ghanaian agronomist and politician. He was the candidate of the Convention People's Party for the Ghanaian presidential election in December 2012.
Founders' Day is a national public holiday observed to commemorate the contributions of all the people,notably the "Big Six" who led the struggle for Ghana's independence. The Founder's Day was formerly called "Founder's Day" with the letter "S" appearing after an apostrophe and it was celebrated to earmark the achievements of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful is a Ghanaian lawyer,women's rights activist,and a politician who has been actively involved in politics and public service representing Ablekuma West Constituency. She is currently the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation.
Ivor Kobina Greenstreet(born 31 May 1966) is a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He was the Presidential candidate for the Convention People's Party (CPP) in the 2020 Ghanaian general election.
Akua Asabea Ayisi was a feminist,former High Court Judge and the first female Ghanaian journalist. During the rise of the Ghanaian independence movement,Akua Asabea Ayisi trained as a journalist with Mabel Dove-Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah,who would later become the country's first prime minister and president.
Paul Essien is a Ghanaian politician and member of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana representing the Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party.
Francis Kabenlah Anaman is a Ghanaian politician and member of the Sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. He represented the Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress.
Agnes Oforiwa Tagoe-Quarcoopome,also known as Auntie Oforiwa,was one of the women who supported Kwame Nkrumah in the fight for Ghanaian independence. She was also a market queen.
Dorcas Affo-Toffey is a Ghanaian entrepreneur,philanthropist and politician. She is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). She is the member of parliament for the Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region.
Agyeman Badu Akosa is a Ghanaian pathologist,academic,politician and social commentator. He served as the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service from 2002 to 2006. He is a member of the Convention People's Party and is a well-known strong Nkrumaist who believes in the ideals of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah its founder. He contested for the Party's presidential candidate ahead the 2008 General elections and lost to Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum. He is a professor of Pathology. He is an advocate on lifestyle issues.
The Ghanaian anti-LGBT bill is a proposed law in Ghana that would introduce wide-ranging restrictions on LGBT+ rights. The bill was approved by the Parliament of Ghana on 28 February 2024 with bipartisan support,and will only come into effect if signed into law by president Nana Akufo-Addo.