Enoch Teye Mensah (born 17 May 1946) is a Ghanaian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was a Minister for Education and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

from January 1997 till January 2017. He is popularly referred to as E. T. Mensah.

Education and early life

Mensah was born on 17 May 1946 and comes from

Prampram Prampram is a coastal town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The town is located in the Ningo Prampram District. Prampram (Gbugbla), the capital of Ningo-Prampram, is 15 minutes' drive from the port city of Tema and 45 minutes from Accra, the ...

in the Greater Accra Region Ghana. He schooled at the SNAPS College of Accountancy, which he completed in 1968. He also had his RSA III in 1970, and he became a fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants in 1986. He is an Account Officer and worked at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

, Legon as Accounting Officer.

Political career

As Major of Accra

During the time of the

PNDC The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...

military regime in Ghana, he was the long time Chief Executive of the

Accra Metropolitan Assembly Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is the political and administrative authority for the city of Accra. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly has a general assembly which is constituted by about 102 members: two-thirds are elected representatives and one- ...

(AMA), akin to being the Mayor of the City of Accra. He joined the National Democratic Congress when it was formed in 1992.

As Member of Parliament

He also stood for the Ghanaian parliamentary election in 1996 and was elected MP for the Ningo-Prampram constituency, holding the seat for almost a decade. After the NDC lost the

2000 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian presiden ...

, he continued as a member of parliament. Mensah lost the NDC primaries to Sam George on 21 November 2015. He once served as the Minority Chief Whip in parliament prior to the Ghanaian parliamentary election in 2008. In January 2009, he became the MMjority

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

in parliament.

As Minister of State

At the beginning of the Fourth Republic, he was appointed Minister for Youth and Sports by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Jerry Rawlings. Mensah held that position through both terms of the

Rawlings government This is a listing of the ministers who served in Jerry Rawlings's National Democratic Congress government during the Fourth Republic of Ghana. This started on January 7, 1993, after 11 years of military rule by Rawlings. He retired from the Ghana ...

. In January 2010, after a cabinet reshuffle, President John Atta Mills appointed him Minister for Employment and Social Welfare. Mensah was a member of the

Pan-African Parliament The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...

until January 2009, when he resigned after being appointed a member of state. In January 2011, he was appointed Minister for Education following the resignation of

Betty Mould-Iddrisu Betty Nah-Akuyea Mould-Iddrisu (born 22 March 1953) is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. A member of the National Democratic Congress, she was Minister for Education in Ghana from 2011 to 2012, after serving as Attorney General and Minister f ...

. On 12 February 2021, Mensah was unanimously elected as the representative of Council of State for the Greater Accra Region.

Personal life

Mr. Mensah is married with eight children.

Elections

Mensah, is a Ghanaian politician and was elected as a member of Parliament of the second parliament of the fourth republic of Ghana during the

1996 Ghanaian General Election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 1996. In the presidential election, incumbent Jerry Rawlings of the National Democratic Congress (Ghana), National Democratic Congress (NDC) was reelected in a single round, defeating John Kufuor ...

. He polled a total valid vote cast of 15,677 representing 56.10% defeating his opponents; Desmond Nene Quaynor who polled 1,569 which represent 5.60% of the total votes cast and Gwendolyn Sara Addo an Independent candidate who also polled 1,537 representing 5.50% under the membership of the National Democratic Congress. He maintained his seat as a member of Parliament for the Ningo Prampram constituency through to 2016 were he lost to Samuel George Nartey.

Honours

E. T. Mensah was awarded the Companion of the Order of the Volta by President Kufuor's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

References

External links and sources

Profile on Parliament of Ghana website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mensah, Enoch Teye Living people Ghanaian MPs 1997–2001 Ghanaian MPs 2001–2005 Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009 Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013 Ghanaian MPs 2013–2017 Government ministers of Ghana Sports ministers of Ghana Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Ghana National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians 1946 births Recipients of the Order of the Volta Mayors of Accra People from Greater Accra Region