Isabelle Marie Ndjole Assouho (born 27 November 1936, in

Kribi Kribi is a beach resort and sea port in Cameroon. Location The coastal town of Kribi lies on the Gulf of Guinea, in Océan Department, South Province, at the mouth of the Kienké River. This location, lies approximately , by road, south of ...

) is a Cameroonian politician. She was elected senator for the East Region during the first senatorial elections held on 14 April 2013. As a university professor, she was chairman of the board of Yaounde and was replaced by on 29 June 2016. For five years, she was State Secretary at the Ministry of National Education (now the Ministry of Secondary Education). She is married and has four children.

Education and career

Holder of a

Baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...

obtained in 1957, Tokpanou pursued graduate studies in France where she graduated with a degree in natural sciences in 1963, a DEA in animal physiology in 1975 and a PhD in animal physiology in 1978, all obtained at the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest studen ...

. In 1963, she began her professional career teaching high schools in

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 ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

until 1975, when she became an assistant in animal physiology at the University of Benin, today University of Lome in

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. In 1978, she entered the

University of Yaounde A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

and in 1980, she became a lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences. Thereafter, she became president of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for ten years after having been Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education.

Politics

Isabelle Tokpanou is an activist for the

CPDM The Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM; french: Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Camerounais, RDPC) is the ruling political party in Cameroon. Previously known as the Cameroonian National Union, which had dominated Cameroon politic ...

where she is an alternate member of the central committee. She was elected senator of the Eastern Region at the 2013 Cameroonian senatorial Eeection.

References

Living people 1936 births 21st-century Cameroonian women politicians 21st-century Cameroonian politicians Cameroon People's Democratic Movement politicians Members of the Senate (Cameroon) Academic staff of the University of Yaoundé {{Cameroon-bio-stub