Akosua Frema Osei-Opare (born, June 5, 1947) is a Development Practitioner, an Academic, Economist and a

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 ...

ian politician. She is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Having spent 40 years in these domains, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, is an expert in labour and hiring as well as development consulting. She represented Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in the

Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana is the unicameral legislature of Ghana. It consists of 276 members, who are elected for four-year terms in single-seat Electoral district, constituencies using a first-past-the-post voting system. History Legislature, L ...

. She is the former and first female

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

. serving from January 7, 2017 to January 6, 2025 under the leadership or presidency of Nana Akuffo Addo.

Early life and education

Frema was born on 5th

June June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of su ...

1947. She hails from Wiamoase 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 ...

of Ghana. She attended St. Monica's Secondary School, Mampong- Ashanti. She had her bachelor's degree in

Home Science Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

from the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

. She proceeded to

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

for a master's degree in Food Science. Frema is married with four children.

Career

Frema lectured at the Department of Home Sciences of the

from 1976 to 1982. She eventually became the Head of Department. She has also worked with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in the Women In Fisheries project in various capacities in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, Congo and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. Frema in 2005 - 2008 worked under the government of President

John Agyekum Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the tenth president of Ghana from 2001 to 2009. He was the fifth chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008 and his victory over John Atta Mills at t ...

as the Deputy Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment. Between 2005 and 2013, Frema served as Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon. On Friday, July 7th, 2023, The

Valley View University Valley View University is a private university with campuses located at Oyibi (Accra), Kumasi and Techiman ( Sunyani) respectively in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Bono East regions of Ghana. It forms part of a worldwide system of over 100 ...

bestowed an honorary Doctorate Degree upon Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the Chief of Staff, in recognition of her exceptional accomplishments and unmatched contributions to the advancement of Ghana. The citation highlighted, "On the basis of these achievements and contributions that you, your honour, had made to the development of Ghana and the general progress of humanity, Valley View University hereby acknowledges these achievements and hereby confer on you the Degree of Doctor Science (Honours Causa) this day, Friday, July 7, 2023." On Sunday, March 3, 2024, at the

Jubilee House Jubilee House is the presidential palace in Accra that serves as a residence and office to the President of Ghana. Jubilee House is built on the site of a building that was constructed and used for administrative purposes by the British Gold C ...

, Akosua Frema Osei Opare, Chief of Staff of the Republic of

, threw an exclusive event for representatives of the Black Queens.

Political career

Frema is a leading member of the

New Patriotic Party The New Patriotic Party (NPP; ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Ghana. Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian ...

. She served a two term office as the member of parliament representing Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency between 2005 and 2013 under the ticket of the NPP. In 2017, when the NPP was voted in power, she was elected by President Nana Akuffo Addo to serve the first female Chief of Staff at the Presidency.

2004 Elections

Opare was elected as the member of parliament for the Ayawaso West-Wuogon constituency in the 2004 Ghanaian General elections. She thus represented the constituency in the 4th parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana. She was elected with 28,636 votes out of 54,988 total valid votes cast. This was equivalent to 52.1% of the total valid votes cast. She was elected over Henry Haruna Asante of the People's National Convention, Samuel Adiepena of the National Democratic Congress and Greenstreet Kobina of the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGC ...

. These obtained 1.0%, 37.9% and 9.0% of the total valid votes cast. Opare was elected on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party. Her constituency was a part of the 17 constituencies won by the New Patriotic Party in the Greater Accra region in that elections. In all, the New Patriotic Party won a total 128 parliamentary seats in the 4th parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana.

Personal life

Frema is married with four children. She is a Christian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opare, Frema Living people New Patriotic Party politicians University of Ghana alumni 1948 births Academic staff of the University of Ghana 21st-century Ghanaian women politicians University of Guelph alumni Chiefs of staff of Ghana Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009 Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013