Margaret Ivy Amoakohene (born 17 July 1960) 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

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 ...

. She has served in various sectors of

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

and academia. She was Ghana's High Commissioner to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the

John Agyekum Kufour 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 spe ...

administration. She is a senior lecturer and acting director of the School of Communication Studies 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 ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. Ghanaia ...

. She is currently a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

Early life and education

Margaret Ivy Amoakohene was born on 17 July 1960 at

Wenchi Wenchi is a town and is the capital of Wenchi Municipal of the Bono Region in middle-belt of Ghana. Wenchi is located at 7.73333 atitude in decimal degrees -2.1 ongitude in decimal degreesat an average elevation/altitude of 304 meters. We ...

in the Brong Ahafo Region. She is a native of

Nsawkaw Nsawkaw is a town and is the capital of Tain district of the Bono region of Ghana. The hometown of the native people of Nsoko was Hani Begho (pronounced Bew). It has a population of about 6000. History teaches that the people of Nsoko emerged fr ...

, capital of the

Tain District Tain District is one of the twelve districts in Bono Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Wenchi District on 10 March 1989; until the western part of the district was split off to create Tain District on 12 November 2 ...

in the Brong Ahafo Region. She obtained her

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 ...

certificate from

St. Francis Secondary School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

Jirapa Jirapa is the capital town of the Jirapa Municipal in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Institutions * The only girls' secondary school in the region, Saint Francis of Assisi Girls' Secondary School, is situated in the town. * Jirapa Senior Seco ...

, 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 from 1974 to 1979. She then proceeded to St. Louis Senior High School in

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 ...

to obtain her

GCE Advanced level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

certificate. In 1981, she enrolled at the

for a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. Amoakohene had her postgraduate education at the University of Ghana where she graduated with a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

degree and a Post-graduate Diploma in Communication Studies. She later obtained a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

from the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Working life

Since 1992, Ivy Amoakohene has lectured students in various aspects of

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

methods, and mass communication at the University of Ghana. She has been actively engaged in several aspects of academic and national life, including serving on the boards of the

National Media Commission Ghana has a pluralistic and free media environment with an independent statutory media regulatory body, which is the National Media Commission. The National Media Commission was set up on July 7, 1993 by an act of the Parliament of the Republic of ...

Ghana News Agency The Ghana News Agency (GNA) is the official news agency of the country of Ghana. It was founded in 1957 by President Kwame Nkrumah, Mr. Donald Wright, who was seconded by the Reuters News Agency set up the Ghana News Agency and in 1961 President N ...

Ghana Broadcasting Corporation The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was established by law in 1968 with a triple mandate as a State Broadcaster, Public Service Broadcaster, and a Commercial Broadcaster in Ghana. Headquartered in the capital city, Accra, it is funded by gr ...

, and the National Film and Television Institute. The Institute of Public Relations Ghana made her an honorary Secretary, and vice-president in recognition of the significant roles she has played in the advancement of public relations in Ghana. In 2010 she was appointed acting director of the School of Communication Studies at the University of Ghana.

High Commissioner to Canada

In 2006, President

appointed Amoakohene to head Ghana's Embassy in Canada as its High Commissioner. She officially begun her diplomatic responsibility on 26 September 2006 when she presented her letters of commission to the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency Michaelle Jean, at her official Provincial office and residence at La Citadel in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. As High Commissioner, she embarked on some philanthropic activities, one of which involved the donation of medical equipment to the Nsawkaw Hospital. She was the second High Commissioner to

in the Kufour administration and served in that position from July 2006 to February 2009.

Council of State

In February 2017, President

Nana Akuffo-Addo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. 2020 Ghanaian general election, In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 Janua ...

nominated Amoakohene as one of the eleven president-appointed members of the

. The 25-member Council of State is the constitutionally mandated advisory body to the President.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amoakohene, Margaret 1960 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Ghana University of Ghana alumni Alumni of the University of Leicester Members of the Council of State (Ghana) 21st-century Ghanaian women politicians Ghanaian women academics High Commissioners of Ghana to Canada Ghanaian women ambassadors