Kwamena Ahwoi (born 13 October 1951) 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 ...

academic and politician, who served as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development from 1990 to 2001 in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, during the reign of

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 ...

. He also briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1997, and was acting minister in that department during much of the 1990s.

Early life and education

He was born on Saturday 13 October 1951 at South Suntreso,

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

. He has eight siblings, among them is Kwasi Ahwoi and Ato Ahwoi. He has two brothers and five sisters. He is a Fante Sefwi and the fourth child of eight children. His mother died in January 2020 at the age of 97 but his father died when he was still a young boy. He had his upbringing in Kumasi. He pursued his 'O level' at the Okuapeman School at Akropong Akuapem. He later continued to

Opoku Ware School Opoku Ware School, often referred to as OWASS, is a public Catholic senior high school for boys, located in Santasi, a suburb of Kumasi, which is the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana. Notable alumni * Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, former d ...

. From 1971 to 1974, Prof. Ahwoi was enrolled at the faculty of law at the University of Ghana. He studied Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) on a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

as his post-graduate course in 1975.

Career

He became a full-time lecturer at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

in the faculty of law from 1982 to 1993. On 31 December 1981, he was moderating a new year class in Legon when

Jerry John 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 ...

asked him to report to the Gonda Barracks of the Ghana armed Forces join the PNDC. After spending time in politics he went back into academia, he is currently a lecturer at the

Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) is a public co-educational university spread over four campuses (Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi) and made up of six schools, ten research centers located at Greenhill in Accra ...

, a tertiary institution in Ghana. Ahwoi is a Governance Professor at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) School of Governance and Leadership.

Politics

Between January and August 1982, he acted as the special aid to Chairman Jerry John Rawlings and his first major assignment was to join a delegation and negotiate with President

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018), titled Turakin Sokoto from 1962, was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in ...

of Nigeria to restore oil supply to Ghana. President Shehu Shagari had truncated oil supplies to Ghana in protest of the 4 June revolution. Obed Asamoah From 1982 to 1987, he managed the Judicial, and Quasal arms of the 4 June Revolution. Being among 27 people selected to develop a roadmap for development as the country was preparing to move into its Fourth Republic. They developed the District Political Authority and Modalities for District Level Election which was popularly called the 'Blue Book'. In the mid-1980s, he served as Director of the Office of Revenue Commissioners, Investigations and Tribunals. between 1982 and 1988
He was Secretary for Local Government and Rural Development and also acted as the acting secretary for Foreign Affairs during the Provisional National Defence Council, PNDC regime. During his term in the office of foreign affairs, he attempted to unify the NDC with the

National Reform Party National Reform or National Reformation may refer to: *National Reform Association (1844), a nineteenth-century American movement to lobby Congress to pass land reforms *National Reform Association (1864), a nineteenth-century American movement to ...

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and he sent troops to join the

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 ...

n-led

ECOMOG The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...

in quelling the

Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberia, Liberian dictato ...

after a coup in 1997. After the NDC lost in the election of 2000, Ahwoi was critical of the new

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, and worked to reduce factionalism in the NDC. In 2005, he resigned as director of research for the NDC.

Author

As an academic and a knowledgeable politician Ahwoi has written four books in relation to local governance, decentralisation and history in Ghana's politics.

Books

* Decentralisation in Ghana: A Collection of Essays * Enhancing the Decentralisation Programme: District Assemblies and Sub-structures as Partners in Governance * Local Government and Decentralization in Ghana * Working with Rawlings

Personal life

He is married with 4 children.

Notes and references

External links

Enhancing the Decentralisation Programme: District Assemblies and Sub-structures as Partners in Governance.pdf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahwoi, Kwamena Living people 1951 births Foreign ministers of Ghana Local government ministers of Ghana Government ministers of Ghana 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers Alumni of the University of Oxford National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Ghanaian Rhodes Scholars Academic staff of Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Alumni of Opoku Ware School