Hawa Yakubu Ogede (24 March 1948 – 20 March 2007) was a

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 ...

ian

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 ...

. She was 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 ...

in the Fourth Republic of Ghana and also served as Minister for Tourism.

Early life and education

Hawa Yakubu was born at

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Tarkwa has a 2013 settlement population of 34,941 people. Economy Mining Tarkwa is noted as a centre of gold ...

in the Western Region of

. She is a native of Pusiga in the Upper East Region. Hawa Yakubu being a member of the Bissa ethnic group, was a founding member of the annual Zekula festival. Yakubu had her early education at Zebilla Middle School and her secondary education at the Navrongo Secondary School. She had her tertiary education at the

Accra Polytechnic The Accra Technical University was established in 1949 as a Technical School in Ghana and commissioned in 1957 as Accra Technical Institute and converted into a Technical University by the Parliament of Ghana in 2013. History Establishment Accr ...

(now the Accra Technical University) where she obtained her diploma in Institutional Management.

Career

Prior to entering politics, Yakubu was a

domestic bursar A bursar (derived from " bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education ( ...

and a businesswoman. She worked as the

bursar A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (f ...

Political career

In 1979, Yakubu was elected unopposed to her local council and was the youngest member of the constituent assembly which wrote the constitution of the Ghana's Third Republic. She also served as the Women's Leader for the United National Convention when the party was founded in 1979. Yakubu fled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and later

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

when a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

occurred in 1981. She lived in

voluntary exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

until 1991. In that year, Yakubu returned to Ghana and, in the following year, contested a seat in parliament from the

Bawku Central Bawku Central is one of the constituencies represented in the Parliament of Ghana. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Bawku Central is located in the Bawku Municipal district of the Upper Eas ...

district, which she won despite being an independent candidate. She was elected into the first parliament of the fourth republic of Ghana on 7 January 1993 after she was pronounced winner at the

1992 Ghanaian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ghana on 29 December 1992, the first since 1979. Voter turnout was just 28.1% amidst a boycott by opposition parties, who had claimed the preceding presidential elections in November – won by former military ...

held on 29 December 1992. She then lost the seat under controversial circumstances and moved to

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

until 2000. In 2000, she returned to Ghana and won back her seat. In 2001 and 2002, she was appointed to be Minister of Tourism under

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 ...

John Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been sp ...

. She also served at this time as a Ghanaian representative to the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political union, political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an ...

(ECOWAS) parliament. Yakubu lost her parliament seat in 2004. At the time of her death in 2007, it was reported that she had been suffering from cancer for quite some time and had sought treatment in London and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Death

She died in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, due to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. She is survived by three children, Derek Ayebo from her first marriage and Amanda and Didi Ogede from her second marriage.

References

""Iron lady" is no more", 20 March 2007, Ghanaweb.com

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakubu, Hawa 1948 births 2007 deaths Ghanaian Muslims People from Western Region (Ghana) New Patriotic Party politicians Tourism ministers of Ghana Ghanaian MPs 1993–1997 Ghanaian MPs 2001–2005 Deaths from cancer in England Accra Technical University alumni