Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey (born 8 February 1963), 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 ...

politician who serves as Ghana's minister for foreign affairs and regional integration. She was appointed by Ghanaian president

Nana Akufo-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. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

on 10 January 2017. She was a Member of Parliament for Anyaa-Sowutuom from 2013 to 2021. and had served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Minister of State at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing under John Kufuor. She is a member 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 ...

Early life

Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was born in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

on 8 February 1963. She had her secondary education at St. Mary's Girls' Senior High School at Korle-Gonno. She is a product of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), the

Ghana Institute of Journalism The Ghana Institute of Journalism is a public university in Ghana. The institute has accreditation from the National Accreditation Board. History The Ghana Institute of Journalism was established on 16 October 1959 by Kwame Nkrumah, the first pr ...

(GIJ),

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 ...

(GIMPA), the Pitman's Central College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

all in 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(UK). The Hon. Minister holds an Executive MBA, (Project Management option), MA in Public Communication, Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB), a Diploma in Public Relations and Advertising as well as a certificate in Marketing Management.

Political life

In the last NPP administration under President

John Agyekum 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 ...

, Hon Ayorkor Botchwey served as Deputy Minister for the Foreign Affairs, Information, as well as the Trade and Industry ministries. She is a fourth term legislator and represented the most populous constituency in the country, Weija, for two terms until it was demarcated. She is currently serving a second term, representing the people of Anyaa/Sowutuom. She will not be running for re-election in the 2020 general and parliamentary elections. At the party level, the Hon. Minister served as spokesperson on Foreign Affairs between the year 2009 and 2013. During the same period, she was Ranking Member for the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and subsequently, the Appointments, Defence and Interior Committees of Parliament A member of the

ECOWAS The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

Parliament from 2013 – 2017, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey worked with her colleagues to assist the Community Parliament in its advisory role in considering matters concerning the region particularly on issues relating to fundamental human rights and freedom, while making recommendations to institutions and organs of ECOWAS. The Hon Minister also served as Vice Chair on the NEPAD & APRM Committees. Currently she sits on the Communication as well as the Gender and Children Committees of Parliament where she works with colleague members to look into matters relating to communications generally as well as examine all gender and children focused issues to ensure their inclusion in all appropriate legislation. on the list presented to parliament for approval on 21 January 2021, by the president of Ghana

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 ...

, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was nominated as the minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

Career

Before entering into frontline politics, Shirley ran a Marketing and Communications Company where she was a consultant for the Ministry of Tourism. She was also the managing director of Dynacom Limited. As a practitioner of public administration, she worked with various organizations such as Worldspace Ghana, the Divestiture Implementation Committee, Glaxo Group Research and Hodge Recruitment. Shirley is currently the Chairperson of

Council of Ministers and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana.

Personal life

Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey is single with two children. She is a Christian who is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

by denomination.

References

External links