Susanna Al-Hassan or Susan Alhassan (27 November 1927 – 17 January 1997) was 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 author and politician, who in 1961 became

's first female to be appointed minister. She was the first African woman to hold a cabinet portfolio and became the member of parliament for the then Northern Region parliamentary constituency between 1960 and 1966. She also wrote several children's books.

Early life and education

Al-Hassan was born in

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

and educated at

Achimota School Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school wa ...

. From 1955 to 1960 she was headmistress of

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga ( Frafra: '), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District and Upper East Region of Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Bolgatanga has over 2012 settlement and a populat ...

Girls' Middle School. She is the mother of former GTV News anchor Selma Ramatu Alhassan who later became Selma Valcourt, Victor Alhassan of Sky Petroleum, Kassem Alhassan and Tihiiru Alhassan.

Career

A beneficiary of the 1960 Representation of the People's (Women Members) Bill, Al-Hassan was returned unopposed as an MP representing the Northern Region in June 1960. She took on various ministerial position, some of which lasted for short periods whiles others were merged or expanded. From 1961 to 1963, she was the Deputy Minister of Education in Nkrumah's republican government. From 1963 to 1966, and again in 1967, she was Minister of Social Affairs. In between that period in 1965, Nkrumah appointed her as Minister of Social Welfare and Community Development. On the fight against prostitution in northern Ghana, in the 1960s, the CPP government engaged in mass education campaigns that emphasized the association of prostitution with "social evil", "enemy" and "crusade", among the aged and illiterate population. Al-Hassan asserted that the problem rather lay with "the soaring rate of depravity and lewdness among our younger generation especially school girls and young working girls" who traveled to Tamale for work or school.

Death

Al-Hassan died on 17 January 1997. In 2007, she was commemorated on a 50th anniversary stamp by former President John Agyekum Kuffour, 10 years after her death.

Works

*''Issa and Amina'', 1963 *''Asana and the magic calabash'', Longman, 1963. Republished, 1998 *''Two tales'', 1966 *''The river that became a lake : the building of the Volta Dam'', 1979 *''The river that became a lake: The story of the Volta river project'', 1979 *''Voices of wisdom'', 1994 *'The Role of Women in Politics in Ghana', ''Feminist Perspectives'', Ottawa: MATCH International Centre, 1994, 9–18.

References

1927 births 1997 deaths Ghanaian MPs 1956–1965 Ghanaian MPs 1965–1966 Government ministers of Ghana Ghanaian children's writers Ghanaian women children's writers 20th-century Ghanaian women writers Alumni of Achimota School Convention People's Party (Ghana) politicians Dagomba people 20th-century Ghanaian women politicians Women government ministers of Ghana Women members of the Parliament of Ghana People from Tamale, Ghana {{Ghana-politician-stub