Joseph Kofi Kowe Adda (22 April 1956 – 14 October 2021) 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, who served as 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 ...

and also the Minister for Aviation in the

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

government under President Akufo-Addo until January 2021. He was also a Financial Economist and a Management Consultant.

Early life and education

Joseph Adda was born at

Navrongo Navrongo is a town and the capital of Kassena-Nankana District in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Navrongo is the capital of Kassena-Nankana District – which is within the Upper East Region of ...

, the capital of the

Kassena-Nankana District Kassena-Nankana District is a former district that was located in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988. However on 29 February 2008, it was split off into two new districts: Kassena-Nankana East Dis ...

in the

Upper East Region The Upper East Region is located in north Ghana and is the third smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It occupies a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometers or 2.7 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. The Upper East regi ...

of Ghana. He had his secondary education at St. John's School, Sekondi and obtained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

Indiana Wesleyan University Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) is a private evangelical Christian university headquartered in Marion, Indiana, and affiliated with the Wesleyan Church. It is the largest private university in Indiana. The university system includes IWU—Ma ...

Marion, Indiana Marion is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,948 as of the 2010 United States Census. The city is the county seat of Grant County. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which he attended between 1979 and 1982. Between 1982 and 1984, he was at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he studied for a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in International Affairs, specialising in Finance and Banking. He went on to get a graduate certificate in African Studies from the same university. In 1989, he obtained a certificate in French language and civilization from the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

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 ...

Early career

Joseph Adda was a Financial Economist and a Management Consultant. He worked as an Executive officer at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana in 1979. Between 1983 and 1984, he worked as a Research Analyst intern at the Third World Trade Institute, New York, USA. Over the next two years, he was an account Executive and Management trainee at the Equitable Financial Service, Inc., in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, USA. Mr. Adda has also worked at Essex County College, Newark, New Jersey, USA (1986 – 1988), Thomson McKinnon Securities Inc., New York (1989 – 1991) and with

Deloitte and Touche Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

Consulting, (West Africa), Accra (1991 – 1994). Since 1994, Joseph Adda has been the Director of Omni Consulting International (Ghana) Ltd. Between 1996 and 2000, he worked in various capacities at the Ministry of Finance, Ghana.

Elections

Adda first became a Member of Parliament in 2003. He won the by-election for the Navrongo Central constituency of the

of Ghana after the death of the incumbent, John Achuliwor. He retained his seat in the 2004 parliamentary election. He won on the ticket of the

. His constituency was a part of the 2 parliamentary seats out of 13 seats won by the New Patriotic Party in that election for the Upper East Region. The

won a majority total of 128 parliamentary seats out of 230 seats. He was elected with 12,444 votes out of 31,657 total valid votes cast. This was equivalent to 39.3% of total valid votes cast. He was elected over Gabriel Pwamang of the Peoples’ National Convention, Andema Emmanuel of the National Democratic Congress, Azantinlwo Anemana Jennifer Grace of the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Conven ...

, Bagonia Grace of the Democratic People's Party, Donald Amuah and Achuliwor A. Otito Werseh both independent candidates. These obtained 6,512, 6,201, 140, 83, 2,262 and 4,015 votes respectively out of the total valid votes cast. These were equivalent to 20.6%, 19.6%, 0.4%, 0.3%, 7.1% and 12.7% respectively of total valid votes cast.

Politics

Adda was appointed the Minister for Manpower Development and Employment by President

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 ...

in 2005. On 28 April 2006, he was moved in a cabinet reshuffle to the position of Minister for Energy. He was later replaced by

Felix Owusu-Adjapong Felix Kwasi Owusu-Adjapong (born February 13, 1944) is a Ghanaian politician and a former member of the Parliament of Ghana as a New Patriotic Party (NPP) representative for Akyem Swedru of the eastern region of Ghana. He was also a former m ...

as Minister of Energy by President Kuffuor. Joe Adda retained his seat when the NPP lost the general elections in 2008. He however lost the seat in the 2012 elections to

Mark Woyongo Mark Owen Woyongo (born 9 June 1946) is a Ghanaian politician and the Ghanaian Minister for the Interior for the Ghanaian Ministry of the Interior. He was also the Member of Parliament for the Navrongo Central constituency in Ghana. Woyongo ...

. In May 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo named Joseph Kofi Adda as part of nineteen ministers who would form his cabinet. The names of the 19 ministers were submitted to the Parliament of Ghana and announced by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Prof. Mike Ocquaye. As a Cabinet minister, Joseph Kofi Adda was part of the inner circle of the president and aided key decision-making activities in the country.

Personal life

Adda was married with two children. He was a Christian. He was a Catholic.

Death

Adda died in the early hours of Thursday, 14 October 2021, at the Legon Hospital in Accra.

External links

Profile on the Ghanaian government website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adda, Joseph Kofi 1956 births 2021 deaths People from Upper East Region New Patriotic Party politicians Energy ministers of Ghana Ghanaian MPs 2001–2005 Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009 Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013 University of Paris alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Indiana Wesleyan University alumni Ghanaian expatriates in the United States Ghanaian expatriates in France Cabinet Ministers of Ghana