Akua Donkor (February 1952 – 28 October 2024) was a Ghanaian farmer and politician. She was the founder and leader of Ghana Freedom Party (GFP).

Early life

Akua Donkor was born in February 1952 and hailed from Ejuratia in the Afigya Kwabre District in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

(then the Gold Coast). She was a Cocoa farmer by profession and was not known to have had any

formal education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

Personal life

Akua Donkor birthed a daughter who goes by the name Ama Serwaa Bonsu.

Politics

Akua Donkor was initially an assembly woman for Heman electoral area in the Afigya Kwabre District of the Ashanti Region. 2012 election She applied to contest as an

independent candidate An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

in the 2012 election to become president of Ghana but was disqualified by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

on accounts of not meeting the requirements set for the election. She later decided to give her support to

Paa Kwesi Nduom Paa Kwesi Nduom or Papa Kwesi Nduom, (born February 15, 1953) is a Ghanaian business consultant, politician, and founder of Ghana's Progressive People's Party (Ghana), Progressive People's Party. A three-time candidate for president, he was the ...

of the Progressive People's Party. 2016 election In January, months before the elections, Donkor's GFP headquarters located at Kabu in the

Eastern Region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to: * Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain *Eastern Region, Ghana *Eastern Region (Iceland) *Eastern Region, Malta *Eastern Region, Nepal *Eastern Region, Nigeria * Eastern Region, Serbia *Eastern Region, Ugand ...

was gutted by fire. Speaking on the incident, Donkor said the disaster was a test which would not deter her quest to become the president of Ghana. However on 10 October 2016, the Ghana

announced the disqualification of Akua Donkor, together with 12 other presidential candidates from contesting 7 December election. She admitted that her nomination form was fraught with errors, as pointed out by the Electoral Commission. She called on members and executives of the party not to lose hope as the party would come back in 2020 to contest the presidential race. 2020 election In 2020, Donkor was among the three female presidential candidates to be cleared to contest the 2020 presidential elections. Out of the 12 candidates that contested, she came fifth. 2024 election Donkor successfully filed her nomination to contest in the 2024 presidential elections, and placed number 3 on the ballot paper. Later, Donkor threatened to take

John Dramani Mahama John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who has been the 14th president of Ghana since January 2025. A member of the National Democratic Congress (Ghana), National Democratic Congress (NDC), he served as the 12th p ...

, the 2024 presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress, to court over derogatory comments on her qualification as a presidential candidate during an Inter-Party Advisory Committee meeting which was held on 15 October 2024 in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) 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, , had a population of ...

. The Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) named Philip Appiah Kubi as a flagbearer replacement for Akua, however he was disqualified due to errors and illegitimate information found in his nomination form.

Campaign promises

Donkor promised to implement

free education Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in most countries (often not including primary textboo ...

from basic to secondary level. She also promised to eliminate import taxes to enable people engage in more imports. She mentioned the establishment of a free zone at the Tema Port to attract more businesses into the country. This, she said, were achievable through the judicious use of Ghana's natural resources such as

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, cocoa,

shea butter Shea butter ( , , or ; ) is a fat (triglyceride; mainly oleic acid and stearic acid) extracted from the nut of the African shea tree ('' Vitellaria paradoxa''). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or ...

and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

. She also advocated that Ghana refine its own resources, especially

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

. Donkor claimed

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

as her political icon. Inspired by the late Libyan leader, Donkor stated Ghana should be "rubbing shoulders" with the northern African country. She also wanted the country to elect its first female president, stating women had the capacity to "help change the fortunes of the country for the better".

Death

Donkor died on 28 October 2024 at the Ridge Hospital Accra, where she was receiving medical treatment for an undisclosed condition after experiencing illness during her campaign activities ahead of preparations towards the

2024 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2024 to elect the president and all 276 members of Parliament. The incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo, having completed his constitutional term limits, was ineligible for re-election. Former P ...

. She had been diagnosed with

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

complications two days prior.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donkor, Akua 1952 births 2024 deaths Politicians from Ashanti Region Candidates for President of Ghana Ghanaian women in politics 21st-century women politicians 20th-century women politicians Ghanaian women in business Ghanaian farmers African women in politics