President John Dramani Mahama has made 10 more key appointments to the Office of the President.
The appointment, which was announced on Tuesday, January 21, 2024, included Ghanaians with vast experiences in various fields, including communication, diplomacy, governance and security.
Below is a profile of the new presidential staffers:
Joyce Bawah Mogtari – Presidential Adviser and Special Aide to the President
Joyce Bawah Mogtari, before her appointment, was Special Aide to John Dramani Mahama.
The presidential adviser was a spokesperson for the campaign team of President Mahama for the 2024 election.
She was also a Deputy Minister of Transport during Mahama’s first term as president.
She is an experienced mediator and has done this on several occasions both locally and internationally. She has also previously served as the head of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, after being the Director of Legal Services of the authority.
Mogtari, a lawyer by profession, was formally called to the bar in 2000 and she started her career with the firm Sey & Co. Later, she became a consultant for KPMG and the Venture Capital Trust Fund.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree from Holborn College, University of London (1997). She also holds a master’s degree in Maritime Law (LL.M) from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), Malta, where she was the recipient of the IMO Legal Committee Chairman’s Award for Best Overall Performance in International Transport Law. She also holds a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution and Mediation from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre, Ghana.
Stanislav Xoese Dogbe – Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations)
Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, widely known as Stan Dogbe, has, since 2012 worked with President John Dramani Mahama as his Special Assistant and Director of Communications.
He was a presidential aide to the late former President Prof John Evans Atta Mills and Mahama when he was vice president.
He also served as a technical adviser to the newly appointed Minister and Deputy Ministers of Information between 2009 and 2010. During Mahama’s previous presidency, he managed the president’s communication strategy.
Stan Dogbe was also responsible for all backend communications and campaign operations of the John Mahama 2020 and 2024 Campaigns.
The Deputy Chief of Staff, who is a journalist, was the Head of Talk Programmes at Joy FM and senior editor in the newsroom of the media house.
Nana Oye Bampoe Addo – Deputy Chief of Staff (Administration)
Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, formerly known as Nana Oye Lithur, was the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection during Mahama’s first term in office.
She holds a Bachelor of Law (BL) from the School of Law, Accra (1992) and a Master’s in Law, Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (LLM) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa (2001).
She previously worked as the Chief Executive Director of the Human Rights Advocacy Centre and for years was also the Regional Coordinator (Africa Office) for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).
She is an advisory member of the International Consortium on Realising Reproductive Rights and a member of the steering committee of the International Consortium on Medical Abortion. The Human Rights Advocate is an executive member of the International Freedom of Information Advocates Network, the Africa Freedom Of Information Centre, and the Convener of the Right to Information Coalition of Ghana.
She has been involved with the Coordinated African Regional Survey on Access to Information for Ghana, as well as running an access to justice programme and a human rights clinic.
Seth Emmanuel Terkper – Presidential Adviser on the Economy
Seth Terkper was Mahama’s Minister of Finance during his first term. Before assuming the Minister of Finance role, he was a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) from March 2009 to January 2013.
Between July 1999 and February 2009, Seth Terkper held various positions (last as Senior Economist) in the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Before joining the IMF, Terkper worked in staff and management positions — including National VAT Coordinator and Deputy Commissioner — in the National Revenue Secretariat (MOFEP) and revenue agencies in Ghana.
The presidential adviser holds a first degree in Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Kennedy School, Harvard University. He is also a chartered accountant.
Professor Francis Dodoo – Presidential Adviser, National Anti-Corruption Programme
Professor Francis Dodoo is a former Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Development at the University of Ghana.
He is a demographer with a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He has chaired the boards of the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF), Ghana’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). Professor Dodoo is a 4-time Olympian and was voted Ghana’s Sportsman of the Year in 1987.
Professor Dodoo served as President of both Ghana Athletics (GAA) and the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and was awarded the Grand Medal of the Republic of Ghana in 2006 for his contributions to the country.
He has also served as Chair of the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) board, Chair of the Governance Commission of World Athletics (WA), and as a member of the Governance and Integrity Committee of the Commonwealth Games Foundation (CGF).
Larry Gbevlo-Lartey – Special Envoy to the Alliance of Sahelian States
Larry Gbevlo-Lartey is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Ghana Armed Forces and a former National Security Coordinator of Ghana, with extensive experience in security and diplomacy.
Gbevlo-Lartey, who is also a private legal practitioner, has previously served as the African Union Chairperson’s Special Representative in Charge of Counter-Terrorism Cooperation and the African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT).
He served as the National Security Coordinator of Ghana from 2009 to 2014. The special envoy also has some experience in academia.
He established the Human Security Research Center in Accra and is a visiting lecturer at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.
Nana Yaa Jantuah – Presidential Staffer
Nana Yaa Jantuah is a former General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
Yaa Jantuah was the Director of Public Affairs at the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission.
She has practised public relations for about 25 years, starting as a Public Relations Officer at the Ghana Investment Promotion Council, and then to the Ghana Free Zones Board; and rising to become the Director of Public Affairs of the PURC.
Beatrice Annangfio – Presidential Staffer
Beatrice Annangfio, widely known as Beatrice Annan, is a member of the communication team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and was a spokesperson of the campaign team of John Mahama for the 2024 election.
She is a private legal practitioner, with a speciality in commercial law and practice. She also is a policy analyst and a Fellow at the Institute of Energy Security with experience in the areas of energy and natural resource law.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from KNUST, an LLB from the University of Ghana, and an M.A. in Economic Policy Management from the University of Ghana.
She is an Associate of Morrison, Twumasi & Partners, and a fellow of the President Obama Young Leaders Initiative.
Shamima Muslim – Deputy Presidential Spokesperson
Shamima Muslim was a member of the campaign team of President Mahama for the 2024 Election.
Muslim is a broadcaster, gender advocate, and development communicator. Shamima Muslim brings a wealth of experience in communications.
She is the Founder and Convener of the Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA), a Non-Governmental Organisation dedicated to improving the visibility and impact of women in the media.
Muslim’s career spans several achievements, including her role as one of the moderators of Ghana’s 2012 Vice-Presidential Debate and her selection as a pioneer representative of Ghana at President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative in 2010.
Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo – Cabinet Secretary
Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo was the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Manifesto Committee for the 2020 and 2024 elections.
He previously served as Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland from 2009 to 2014. He has also served as Ghana’s Ambassador to Cuba with concurrent accreditation to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Nicaragua, and Panama. He also served as the Minister of Health from January 2000 to February 2001.
Prof. Danso-Boafo was an Associate Professor, Deputy Director, and Coordinator of the International Health Track in the Master of Public Health Program, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
He also taught at Atlanta University, later Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
