Paa Kwesi Nduom or Papa Kwesi Nduom, (born February 15, 1953) is 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 business consultant, politician, and founding member of Ghana's Progressive People's Party. A three-time nominee for president, he was the member of parliament for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem constituency and served as minister of state in the

Kufuor government This is a list of the ministers who have served in John Kufuor's New Patriotic Party government during the Fourth Republic of Ghana. This government started on January 7, 2001, the first changeover between civilian governments in Ghana through the ...

Early life and education

Paa Kwesi Nduom was born in

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante people, Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem Municipal District, Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, Ghana, Centra ...

in the Central Region of Ghana. He was named Joseph Hubster Yorke Jr after his father. He had his secondary education at the St. Augustine's College in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

, where he obtained both the

General Certificate of Education The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications used in awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries. For some time, the Scottish ed ...

(GCE) Ordinary and

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 ...

s("O" level and "A" levels).He proceeded to 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 ...

where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(Economics) degree at the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

in 1975. He subsequently went on to pursue 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 Management (1977) and a

Ph.D 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 ...

(Service Delivery Systems) in 1982 at the same university.

Career

Nduom started work as a life insurance underwriter with the North Western Mutual Life Insurance Company between 1975 and 1978. Over the next year, he worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin. In 1979, he joined the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District as a budget and management analyst. In 1981, he joined

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 ...

as an associate consultant, rising to become a partner in the firms' Milwaukee office by 1986. In 1992, he helped establish Deloitte & Touche's West Africa Consulting division. He served as a board member for Fan Milk Ghana Limited,

Edinaman Secondary School Edinaman Secondary School is a co-ed second cycle institution at Elmina in Ghana. It was established on January 19, 1978, and started offering educational services from the Elmina Castle Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Ca ...

and the Ghana Heritage and Conservation Trust. He shares ownership of GN Savings and Loans with other shareholders. He is also the owner of Groupe Ndoum and Coconut Grove Resort in Ghana.

Politics

;District Assembly His active role in politics began in 1997 when he was elected as a member of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem District Assembly for the Akotobinsin Electoral Area. ;National politics In December 2000, he contested the Ghanaian parliamentary elections for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem constituency on the ticket of the Convention's People's Party (CPP). However, he lost to the incumbent MP, Ato Quarshie of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) by a margin of 2.6% of the valid votes cast. However, two months later, he was appointed 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 ...

as the Minister for Economic Planning although he was not a member of the ruling

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 ...

. He also served during this period as the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission. During a cabinet reshuffle in April 2003, Nduom became the Minister for Energy. Eighteen months later, he again contested the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem seat in the Ghanaian parliamentary election in December 2004 and this time he won by 33.6 points (30,981 votes to 15,427). At the time, he served as the chairman of the Organising Committee of the CPP. Early in President Kufuor's second term of office, Nduom became the Minister for Public Sector Reform. He continued in this capacity till July 2007 when he resigned from government to seek his party's nomination to stand as the CPP presidential candidate. ;Bid for president In December 2007, Nduom was nominated by the CPP to contest the December 2008 presidential election. He lost the elections, getting less than 1% of the vote. During the CPP party elections of 2011, candidates reportedly supported by Nduom, including then Chairman Ladi Nylander, lost to newer candidates such as

Samia Nkrumah Samia Yaba Christina Nkrumah (born 23 June 1960) is a Ghanaian politician and chairperson of the Convention People's Party (CPP). In the 2008 parliamentary election, she won the Jomoro constituency seat at her first attempt. She is the daughte ...

, daughter of Ghana's first president

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

Months later, Nduom was accused by the Convention People's Party of going against the party's regulations. In January 2012, Nduom resigned from the CPP and formed his own party, the Progressive People's Party. He was the Progressive People's Party presidential candidate in the 2012 and 2016 elections.

Family

Nduom is married to

Yvonne Nduom Yvonne Nduom (born 9 July 1953) is a Ghanaian public figure known chiefly as the wife of the leader of the Progressive People's Party. She is currently the Executive Chairperson of Coconut Grove Hotels. Education She had her primary and seco ...

, a management specialist and graduate of the

University of Cape Coast The University of Cape Coast is a public collegiate university located in the historic town of Cape Coast. The campus has a rare seafront and sits on a hill overlooking the wide Atlantic Ocean. It operates on two campuses: the Southern Campus (O ...

in Ghana and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in the

. They are married with four children, Nana Kweku Nduom, Edjah Kweku Nduom, Chief Nduom, and Nana Aba Nduom. Nana Kweku is married to Esinam Julia Nduom (née Baeta) and they have a daughter, Maame Adjoa Kakraba Nduom. Edjah is married to Kelley Nduom (née Coleman).

Notes

External links and sources