Elizabeth Akua Ohene

Elizabeth Ohene was born on 24 January 1945 in Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana. She attended Mawuli School and gained admission to the University of Ghana in 1964, graduating with B.A. (Hon.) degree in English in 1967. She also attended the University of Indiana, in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, where she obtained a Mass Communication Certificate. She was a Press Fellow from January to June 1983 at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.

Ohene worked as a journalist at the Daily Graphic and in 1979 became the first woman in Africa to edit a major national daily newspaper. She went into exile after criticising the government of Jerry Rawlings.Linda Christmas, The Guardian, Manchester. She is a former Minister of State to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. She was also part of the award-winning BBC Focus on Africa team.{{cite web|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/elizabeth-ohene/my-focus-on-africa-story.html|title=My Focus on Africa story|first=Elizabeth|last=Ohene|website=Graphic Online|date=14 June 2023|access-date=5 December 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53779424|title=How a BBC show helped shape Africa|first=Elizabeth|last=Ohene|website=BBC News|date=15 August 2020|access-date=5 December 2023}} Ohene was the spokesperson in former President John Kufuor's administration.{{cite web|url=https://www.modernghana.com/amp/news/1155987/has-the-dead-ever-lain-in-honour.html|title=Has The Dead Ever Lain In Honor|first=Africanus |last=Owusu - Ansah|date=5 May 2022|access-date=2023-08-23}}

When Ohene began her career in journalism with the Daily Graphic in Ghana, it was during a time of political upheaval. She relocated to London to continue her work as a journalist as the publisher and editor of a weekly news magazine called Talking Drums. She later become the Deputy Editor of Daily Programmes in the African Service division of BBC World Service.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/africanawards/biographies.html|title=1999 CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards|publisher=CNN}}{{cite web|url=https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/person/Elizabeth-Akua-Ohene-219|title=Ghana Famous People {{!}} Elizabeth Ohene|website=GhanaWeb|access-date=2023-08-23}}

Ohene lived in London for 19 years, after leaving Ghana in need of sanctuary. She remembers London fondly, even now that Ghana is a relatively safe and stable country.{{Cite web|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/elizabeth-ohene/london-through-ghanaian-eyes.html|title=London Through Ghanaian Eyes|last=Ohene|first=Elizabeth|website=Graphic Online|date=13 September 2017}}

Ghana is now considered the safest country for African journalists, and freedom of the press is reportedly thriving. World Press Freedom Day, sponsored by the UNESCO, was hosted in Ghana in May 2018.{{Cite web|url=http://thechronicle.com.gh/index.php/2018/05/02/ebo-quansah-pays-tribute-to-ghanaian-journalists-tortured-and-killed-by-rawlings-junta/|title=Ebo Quansah Pays Tribute to Ghanaian Journalists Tortured and Killed by Rawlings Junta|last=Botchway|date=2 May 2018|website=The Chronicle|access-date=25 November 2018|archive-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904134910/http://thechronicle.com.gh/index.php/2018/05/02/ebo-quansah-pays-tribute-to-ghanaian-journalists-tortured-and-killed-by-rawlings-junta/|url-status=dead}} This was a significant gesture, as under the regime of Jerry John Rawlings journalists were often classified as enemies of the state and were often tortured and killed.{{Cite web|url=http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/ghana/history|title=Ghana: History|publisher=The Commonwealth|access-date=25 November 2018|archive-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507232832/http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/ghana/history|url-status=dead}} Ohene was working as the editor of the Daily Graphic in Ghana while Rawlings was in control of the country. She published an editorial questioning Rawlings' rule, and she had to leave the country to escape his wrath. She went to London, and established the magazine Talking Drums, with two colleagues who escaped with her. The purpose of Talking Drums was to have a platform to expose the human rights abuses happening in Ghana. In 2021, she was appointed Chair of the Board of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.{{Cite web |title=Elizabeth Ohene appointed Board Chair of SSNIT |url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/elizabeth-ohene-appointed-board-chair-of-ssnit.html|date=11 August 2021|access-date=2022-08-26 |website=Graphic Online |language=en-gb}}{{cite web|url=https://www.businessghana.com/site/news/business/244071/Akufo-Addo-appoints-Elizabeth-Ohene-as-Board-Chair-of-SSNIT|title=Akufo-Addo appoints Elizabeth Ohene as Board Chair of SSNIT|website=Business Ghana|date=12 August 2021|access-date=5 December 2023}}

She has also been a voice of conscience in the Ghanaian socio-político landscape with her literary writings. In 2022, she argued that the affirmative action bill will be hard to pass as it appears to be a threat to men in position.{{cite web|url=https://asaaseradio.com/elizabeth-ohene-passing-affirmative-action-bill-will-be-difficult/|title=Elizabeth Ohene: Passing Affirmative Action Bill will be difficult|first=Fred |last=Dzakpata|date=8 March 2022|access-date=2023-08-23}}

Subsequently, she opined her voice on Anas's galamsey exposé, citing it as misleading.{{cite web|url=https://www.adomonline.com/anas-galamsey-economy-documentary-misleading-elizabeth-ohene/|title=Anas' galamsey economy documentary 'misleading' – Elizabeth Ohene|website=adomonline.com|date=November 18, 2022|access-date=2023-08-23}}{{cite web|url=https://www.africanliberty.org/2020/09/04/elizabeth-ohene-and-her-long-suffering-neutrals/|title=Elizabeth Ohene and her Long-Suffering 'Neutrals'|website=African Liberty|first=Kofi|last=Benti|date=4 September 2020|access-date=2023-08-23}}

Ohene opposes corrupt public officials in Ghana; she has stated that corruption should be known as "stealing" and pointed out that it is a scourge on progress for any country.{{Cite web|url=http://dailyguideafrica.com/blunt-corruption-elizabeth-ohene/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926182939/http://dailyguideafrica.com/blunt-corruption-elizabeth-ohene/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 26, 2017|title=Be Blunt On Corruption|last=Ohene|first=Elizabeth|date=25 September 2017|website=Daily Guide }}

She has stood up for freedom of the press. In 2016, she advocated for a reporter who was banned from the Ghana Parliament for suspected misreporting, stating that she believes a reporter's job is to push boundaries, and that mistakes should be a teachable moment but nothing more severe.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ghanalive.tv/2016/07/23/elizabeth-ohene-parliaments-ban-on-graphic-reporter-shocking|title=Parliament's Ban On Graphic Reporter Shocking|date=23 July 2016|website=Ghana Live TV}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Ohene is in favour of limiting the population growth in Ghana, as a measure to decrease poverty. She supports the work of Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, executive director of the National Population Council, and Appiah's proposal that women in Ghana should be limited to three children or lose access to free government services.{{Cite web|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/elizabeth-ohene-writes-should-ghanaian-women-be-limited-to-3-babies.html|title=Elizabeth Ohene Writes: Should Ghanaian Women Be Limited To Three Babies?|date=30 August 2018|website=Graphic Online}}

Ohene has been criticized by the Volta Youth Forum for her lack of support for traditional rulers, specifically for her harsh words against Togbe Afede XIV, the Paramount Chief of the Asorgli State and the President of the National House of Chiefs, in 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://citinewsroom.com/2018/11/02/volta-group-slams-elizabeth-ohene-for-criticizing-togbe-afede-over-new-regions|title=Volta Group Slams Elizabeth Ohene For Criticizing Togbe Afede Over New Regions|last=Lartey|first=Nii Larte|date=2 November 2018 |website=Citi Newsroom}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=219&mode=articles Elizabeth Akua Ohene, Articles], GhanaWeb.
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTtZb5VH1k8 "Ghanian journalist Elizabeth Ohene at Cornell Alliance for Science event"], 18 November 2019.
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-57129970 "Letter from Africa: The woman bucking the trend in Ghana to embrace her grey hair"], BBC News, 19 May 2021.
• [https://www.myjoyonline.com/elizabeth-ohene-is-anyone-reading-the-paper/ "Elizabeth Ohene: Is anyone reading the paper?"], myjoyonline.com, 5 October 2023.

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Category:1945 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century Ghanaian women politicians

Category:20th-century Ghanaian women politicians

Category:20th-century Ghanaian journalists

Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists

Category:Cabinet ministers of Ghana

Category:Ewe people

Category:Government ministers of Ghana

Category:Indiana University Bloomington alumni

Category:Mawuli School alumni

Category:People from Volta Region

Category:University of Ghana alumni

Category:20th-century Ghanaian women journalists

Category:21st-century Ghanaian women journalists

Category:21st-century Ghanaian journalists