Joseph Yieleh Chireh (born 8 July 1954) is a

Ghanaian 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 Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

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 is the a former Member for Parliament for Wa West. He served in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana. He is also 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 ...

Early life and education

Chireh was born in Lassia Tuolu in the

Upper West Region The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest set ...

of Ghana. He had his secondary school educated at the Navrongo Secondary School 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 ...

where he studied for both his GCE Ordinary and Advanced level certificate. He studied at the

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

from 1975 and obtained the

Bachelor of Pharmacy A Bachelor of Pharmacy (abbreviated B Pharm or PharmB or BS Pharm) is a graduate academic degree in the field of pharmacy. In many countries, this degree is a prerequisite for registration to practice as a pharmacist. Since both PharmB and Phar ...

degree in 1979. He proceeded to the

Ghana School of Law The Ghana School of Law (GSL) is an educational institution in Ghana for training lawyers. The school is the only one that provides training for law graduates in the Barrister at Law program. The Professional Law Course is designed for Law Gradu ...

in 2001 and qualified as a

in 2006.

Politics and diplomatic service

He is a member of the National Democratic Congress. Yieleh Chireh served as the Chairman of the Procurement Taskforce set up by the PNDC Government in 1991. As chairman he is credited with spearheading the investigations of procurement malpractices in selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) notable amongst them is the Ministry of Health, the Volta River Authority, Electricity Corporation of Ghana and also the former Post & Telecommunications Corporation. He has served in different roles from Regional minister, Ambassador, member of parliament to Minister of Local Government and Rural development and also Minister of health.

Regional Minister - Amabassador

Chireh joined the National Democratic Congress when it was formed in 1992 on the resumption of party politics in Ghana. He was appointed by

Jerry Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...

al Minister in his

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 ...

in 1993. He served in that role from 1993 to 1997. He was subsequently made the

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

with concurrent accreditation to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, the

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a p ...

and

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

between 1997 and 2001. He subsequently served as member of parliament in the 4th, 5th,6th, and 7th parliament from January 2005- January 2021.

Member of parliament

2004 elections

He contested the newly created Wa West constituency seat in the Ghanaian parliamentary election in December 2004, which he won leading to his taking his seat in the Fourth parliament of the Fourth Republic. Chireh was elected as the member of parliament for the Wa west constituency in the

2004 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2004. The presidential elections resulted in a victory for incumbent John Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who defeated John Atta-Mills of the National Democratic Congress with 52 perce ...

s. He thus represented the constituency in the 4th parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana. He was elected with 13,256 votes out of 19,980 total valid votes cast. This was equivalent to 66.3% of the total valid votes cast. He was elected over Vaari Matthew Saa-hi of the People's National Convention and Edward Yirimambo of 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 ...

. These obtained 653votes and 6,071 votes respectively of the total valid votes cast. These were equivalent to 3.3% and 30.4% respectively of the total valid votes cast. Chireh was elected on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress. In that election, the National Democratic Congress won a minority total of 94 parliamentary representation out of a total 230seats in the 4th parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana.

2008,2012 elections

He retained his seat in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

after winning with 10,468 votes representing 50% against his closest opponents Dari Daniel Kuusongno of the New Patriotic Party, Edward B. Yirimanbo, an independent candidate who had 4,455 votes representing 21.3% and 5,541 votes representing 26.5% respectively. In the 5th parliament he served on the Foreign Affairs committee, Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises committee. Chireh retained his seat again in the 2012 parliamentary elections after securing 16,368 votes representing 57.71% against his closest contender the New Patriotic Party's candidate Adams Nuhu Timbile who had 9,918 representing 34.97%

2016 elections

Chireh was voted for again to represent the Wa West constituency for a 4th term in the 7th parliament. He polled 12,658 votes, 42.49% whilst his two main opponents Patrick Bandanaa, an independent candidate and Dari Daniel Kuusongno of the New Patriotic Party who he had faced in the 2008 had 8,806 votes, 29.56% and 7,415%, 24.89% respectively. In the 7th parliament of the 4th republic, he served on the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Local Government and Rural Development Committee and Appointments Committee. In his bid to go for another term and be part of the 8th parliament he was defeated in the National Democratic Congress Primaries by former IGP executive secretary Peter Lanchene Toobu who polled 755 votes as against the 317 votes obtained by Chireh.

Minister of state

In February 2009, he was appointed Minister for Local Government and Rural Development by the new

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential elec ...

John Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...

. He served as a member of John Atta Mills cabinet ministers. He served there until 4 January 2011, when he was appointed Minister of Health by the President, John Evans Atta Mills in a cabinet reshuffle.

Professional association

He is registered Pharmacist at the Ghana Pharmacy Council, a fellow of the pharmacy society of Ghana and a fellow of the West Africa post graduate college of pharmacist. He is also a lawyer and member of the Ghana Bar Association.

Chairman of FBNBank Ghana

Chireh served as the board chairman for FBNBank Ghana, a subsidiary of

First Bank of Nigeria First Bank of Nigeria Limited is a Nigerian multinational bank and financial services company in Lagos, Nigeria. It is the premier bank in West Africa. The First Bank of Nigeria Limited operates as a parent company, with the subsidiaries 'FBN Ba ...

Limited for two terms, 6 years served two terms dating from 2014 to 2020.

Personal

Chireh is a Christian and is married with 4 children.

References

External links and sources

Profile on Parliament of Ghana website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chireh, Joseph Yieleh Living people 1954 births Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology alumni Health ministers of Ghana Local government ministers of Ghana Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009 Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013 Ghanaian MPs 2013–2017 Ghanaian bankers Ghanaian pharmacists National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Ambassadors of Ghana to Algeria Ambassadors of Ghana to Tunisia Ambassadors of Ghana to Mauritania Ambassadors of Ghana to the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Ghana School of Law alumni People from Upper West Region