Mark Owen Woyongo (9 June 1946 – 17 January 2024) was a Ghanaian politician who served as the Ghanaian Minister for the Interior for the Ghanaian Ministry of the Interior. He was also the Member of Parliament for the Navrongo Central constituency in Ghana. Woyongo first stood for election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress in the

2008 Ghanaian parliamentary election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2008. Since no candidate received more than 50% of the votes, a run-off election was held on 28 December 2008 between the two candidates who received the most votes, Nana Akufo-Addo of the gover ...

, winning 41.7% of the votes and losing to Joseph Kofi Adda 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 ...

by 1,130 votes (3.5%). He was however appointed the Upper East Regional Minister by President Mills in his government in 2009. He was retained in this position by President Mahama following the death of Mills. In 2013, he was nominated by President Mahama for the position of Minister for Defence.

Early life and education

Woyongo was born on 9 June 1946 in

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga (Frafra language, Frafra: ''Bɔlegataŋa''), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and also the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District, Bolgatanga Municipal and the Upper East Region of Ghana. It shares a Burkina Faso–Gh ...

in the

Upper East Region The Upper East Region is located in the northern part of Ghana and it is the third smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It occupies a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometers, or 2.7% of the total land area of Ghana. The reg ...

of Ghana. He attended Notre Dame Secondary School in

Navrongo Navrongo is a town and the capital of Kassena-Nankana Municipal District in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Navrongo is an important market town, known for its cathedral and its grotto. It hou ...

in 1966. He completed a Diploma in Journalism from

Ghana Institute of Journalism The University of Media, Arts and Communication- Institute of Journalism (UniMAC-IJ), formerly the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), is a public university in Ghana. The University is a merger of the erstwhile Ghana Institute of Journalism, the ...

in 1971. He undertook professional courses in Ghana and abroad.

Political career

Mark Owen Woyongo was the Public Relations Officer for the Upper East Regional Administration from 1978 and 1985. He was appointed the Regional Information Officer, Upper East Region in 1985. In 1994, he was appointed the Minister Counselor for Information at the Ghana High Commission in London, United Kingdom. Mark Woyongo was the Minister for the Upper East Region from 2009 to 2012. He survived a fatal accident when returning from the NDC congress held in the Upper East region. Woyongo won the 2012 parliamentary elections on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). In 2013, he was appointed Defence Minister and subsequently to the Ministry of the Interior during his tenure as Upper East Regional Minister.

Personal life and death

Mark Woyongo was married and had two children. He died on 17 January 2024, at the age of 77.

References

External links

1946 births 2024 deaths Ghanaian Roman Catholics Ghanaian MPs 2013–2017 Ministers for defence of Ghana Ministers for the interior of Ghana National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Ghanaian civil servants Cabinet ministers of Ghana People from Upper East Region {{ghana-politician-stub

Early life and education

Political career

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links