Juliana Jocelyn Azumah-Mensah (born 15 June 1950) 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 the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

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 ...

and

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

. She was the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs. She is also the

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 o ...

for Ho East constituency.

Early life and education

Juliana Azumah-Mensah was born at

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K-dua or Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region in southern Ghana. Koforidua was founded in 1875 by migrants from Ashanti. It is also called New Juaben. The city has a settlement city proper pop ...

, capital of the Eastern Region of Ghana. Between 1956 and 1964, she attended the Roman Catholic Primary and Local Authority Middle Schools at Agortime-Kpetoe in the

Volta Region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...

. She had her secondary education at

OLA Girls Senior High School (Ho) Our Lady of Apostles Girls Senior High School is an all female second cycle institution in Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana. History OLA Senior High School was established on 1 February 1954 by Bishop Anthony Konings in Keta with 35 students. The ...

at Ho, capital of the Volta Region, where she obtained the

GCE Ordinary Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

in 1969. She proceeded to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

where she trained at the Ipswich East Anglia School of Nursing at

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, Suffolk. She qualified in August 1973 as a State Registered Nurse. A year later, she trained in Midwifery at Saint Peter's Hospital at

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in t ...

in Surrey, graduating in August 1975 as a State Certified Midwife. She enrolled at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

for postgraduate studies, leading to her obtaining an MSc in Health Management and Administration in October 1997.

Career

Azumah-Mensah started work as a clerical officer at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in 1969. She left for further studies in the UK after a year. She then worked as a nurse and midwife at various hospitals in the UK. She moved to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, where she worked at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital between 1978 and 1984. She returned to the UK, working at the Mayday University Hospital between 1984 and 1987. She returned to Ghana in 1988 and worked for two years as the Principal Nurse in the Ho Diocese. Between 2001 and 2005, she worked with the Catholic Health Services. She was stationed at Ho, where she served as the Executive Secretary/Director of Health Services of the Ho Diocese and the Regional Co-ordinating Director.

Politics

Juliana Azumah-Mensah was first elected Member of Parliament for the Ho East Constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2004 parliamentary election and took her seat in January 2005. She retained her seat in the 2008 election. She was first appointed 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 ...

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 ...

as Minister for Tourism in 2009. She was shifted to Minister for Women and Children's Affairs in January 2010, until 2012.

Personal life

She is married with two children. She hails from Agortime-Kpetoe in the

of Ghana.

References

External links and sources