Papa Owusu Ankomah

Early life

Hon. Owusu-Ankomah was born in Ghana on 27 April 1958 to a family of entrepreneurs in the retail and real estate industries in the Western Region. Papa’s father, the late Mr. Yaw Owusu-Ankomah, hailed from Atibie in the Kwahu District of the Eastern Region, while his mother, a still feisty octogenarian – Madam Araba Owomoye Owusu-Ankomah - hails from Dixcove in the Western Region. Growing up in the cosmopolitan twin port cities of Sekondi-Takoradi, Papa lived in close proximity to the Zongo neighbourhood of Sekondi, and had the opportunity to make friends with a very broad range of Ghanaians. Papa’s tolerance and his ability to appeal to people of all ethnic backgrounds, faiths and creeds stem from this facet of his upbringing.

Education

Papa’s education began in primary schools in Takoradi, from which he entered Mfantsipim School, a preeminent Ghanaian Secondary School, with a reputation for training its students for leadership positions. During his years in Mfantsipim, Papa acquired the people- and consensus-building skills for which he is well-known today. He was a very successful student at Mfantsipm, achieving the requisite high marks at the West African Examination Council’s Advanced Level Examination for entrance into University.

At the University of Ghana, Legon Papa Owusu-Ankomah’s choice of the law was a key landmark in his career development as a future leader of Ghana. As a law student, Papa recognized that civil liberties, an issue of contemporaneous concern, and the rule of law would at the heart of the country’s future democratic dispensation. He excelled as a student at Legon, graduating with an LL.B (Hons) 2nd Class Upper Division in 1979 even as he maintained a busy schedule of extracurricular activities in the social, cultural, religious and political life of the University. Papa was accepted to the Ghana School of Law, where he completed his professional studies in the Law in 1981, and was called to the Ghana Bar that same year.

Professional career

In his professional career, which includes distinguished service as the Attorney-General of Ghana, Papa Owusu-Ankomah has become recognized as one of the most seasoned lawyers in the country. He was the managing partner in the practice of Owusu-Ankomah, Amanquah & Co. just prior to becoming a full-time politician when the New Patriotic Party took office in 2001. As a lawyer, Papa Owusu-Ankomah is renowned for his work on behalf of activists of the New Patriotic Party, some of whom have been wrongfully persecuted as they tried to exercise their constitutional rights. Papa’s service to the N.P.P. goes far beyond donating his legal services, as important as this was at the time.

Party activism

The record of Papa Owusu-Ankomah’s service to the Party shows that he was at one time or the other the: Founding member and Chairman of the Western Region branch of the New Patriotic Party, Founding member of the Danquah-Busia Club, Member of the Western Regional Campaign team in 1992 and 1996, Member of the National Campaign Board in 2006, Chairman of the Communications and Publicity Committee of the Camp Board of the NPP for the 2000 elections, Member of the National Steering Committee - which came up with the “Positive Change slogan - from October 2001 to March 2003, Member of the National Executive Committee of the NPP from 1997 to date, Member of the National Council of the NPP from 1997 to date. No newcomer to the political arena, Papa’s work in the NPP is both extensive and significant. Papa has been a leading member of the Western Region N.P.P. since its inception, when he worked with stalwarts such as Mr. Stephen Krakue, of blessed memory, to form a viable political party to contest the National Democratic Congress’s hold on power. In 1996, upon wresting the Sekondi constituency seat away from a National Democratic Congress stalwart, Papa embarked on a parliamentary career that has served to showcase other facets of his considerable talents.

When his party was in the Opposition, Papa Owusu-Ankomah served as the shadow minister for Information, a position in which his grace under pressure and command of the issues helped convince the Ghanaian electorate that the NPP could be entrusted with power.

Parliamentary career

Since the NPP’s stunning electoral victory in 2000, Papa has captured the public imagination as one of the most experienced and competent politicians in the nation. His first official appointment was to the post of Deputy Majority leader. In this position, he was noted for his ability to both lead his party’s various constituencies and also to bring the Opposition on board, when necessary, to ensure the passage of the President’s legislative agenda. Indeed, he was later elected by his peers as the Majority Leader.

Papa Owusu-Ankomah can lay claim to being the most experienced legislator among the senior members of the Party today. He has seen service on a number of Parliamentary committees – the Standing Committee on Subsidiary Legislation, the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Finance Committee and the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, to name but a few.

Governance experience

Within the executive branch of Government, Papa Owusu-Ankomah has continued to display the characteristic blend of leadership and excellence that observers have remarked on over and over again. He has led a combination of staff at the Ministry of Justice, Youth and Sports, Parliamentary Affairs, Interior; Education, Science and Sports, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and Presidential Special Initiatives with great distinction and aplomb It is under Papa Owusu-Ankomah’s leadership at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports that the Ghana Black Stars made their historic run to the round of sixteen at the World Cup in 2006. He also led the effort to reform Ghanaian basic education to ensure that Ghanaian students receive a first-class education and are thus empowered to participate in the transformation of the country. He resigned in 2007 to contest the flagbarership of his party the New Patriotic Party. His bid was unsuccessful having placed sixth ahead of senior party contenders. Due to his leadership and experience in governance, President John Agyekum Kufour appointed him as the Minister responsible for Trade industry, Private Sector Development and Presidential Special Initiatives. He is currently the MP for Sekondi having served for sixteen years.

Family

Papa Owusu-Ankomah has been married to Mrs. Augustina Owusu-Ankomah, who hails from the Central Region, for 33 years. The couple have three children(all lawyers): Nania, Papa Yaw and Kwesi Papa. He has 4 grandchildren.

Hobbies

He has many hobbies, including walking, soccer, reading and listening to Ghanaian music of all kinds. He plays draughts, and likes to watch Ghanaian comedies on television.