Prosper Douglas Kwaku Bani (born 17 September, 1958) is a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

international aid and development manager and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who is a former Chief of staff of Ghana and a former Minister for Interior. He is a senior manager and specialist in international peace-building and development processes. For over 15 years, he led innovative processes in

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

and development with the

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in several locations, worldwide.

Early life and education

Bani is native

Kpando Kpando is a town and capital of Kpando Municipal District in the northern Volta Region of Ghana. It is near the north eastern arm of Lake Volta and the Togo border. Kpando is the fifty-fourth most populous place in Ghana, in terms of population, ...

a town in the

Volta region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...

of Ghana and he is an Ewe by tribe. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Sociology 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 ...

, Legon in 1981. He furthered his education at the

Institute of Social Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ...

, The Hague,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where he completed in 1989 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Development Studies: Politics and Development Strategies. In 1991 he obtained a certificate of achievement in International Development Studies from

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He obtained a Master of Arts, majoring in Comparative Politics and Government in 1994 from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

at Austin,

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, Master of Arts, 1994 Major: Comparative Politics and Government. He currently serves as the National Security Advisor to the president of Ghana,

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 ...

Career

Lecturer

He started his career as a lecturer at the

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 ...

where he worked from 1984 to 1992. Within that period he rose to become a senior lecturer and Director of studies through that role he contributed to the training of leading journalists and media managers in Ghana.

United Nations

He started a long period of service within the UN starting as project manager for the

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

community-based peace and confidence building project under the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP), Tajikistan from July 1996 to May 1999. Between November 1999 to August 2002, he worked at the United Nations Volunteers Programme under the UNDP in

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, as a Programme Specialist for peace and confidence-building programmes. He rose to become a Small Arms and Demobilisation Specialist and at some point the Acting team leader of the Small Arms and Demobilisation Unit within the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) under UNDP between September 2003 and February 2006. Bani managed and coordinated Crisis Prevention and Recovery (CPR) programmes in support of over 20 countries and regional organisations in Africa, as the team leader for the BCPR based in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, between 2009 and 2011. Prior to this, He served as a regional advisor in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

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for the BCPR under the UNDP from March 2006 to February 2009. Between 2011 and 2012, Bani led the United Nations /

Intergovernmental Authority on Development The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa. It includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the African Great Lakes. It is headquartered in Djibouti. Formation The Intergovern ...

inter-ministerial response to the humanitarian crises in

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

as the Senior Recovery Advisor and Manager.

Political career

Chief of staff

Bani is a member of the National Democratic Congress. He was appointed by President

on 8 January 2013 after he had been sworn in as president on 7 January to serve as

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 ...

to take over from John Henry Martey Newman. He served in that capacity for 2 years until 15 February 2015 when he was removed from office and replaced with the then local government and rural development minister

Julius Debrah Julius Debrah (born 24 April 1966) is a Ghanaian politician and chief of staff to the president of Ghana John Dramani Mahama. He is a member of the National Democratic Congress. He is the current Chief of Staff of the Republic of Ghana. In Februa ...

. He was then assigned to as serve as Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary. His removal was met with a lot of displeasure from groups within the Volta Region of Ghana. After his removal of office as chief of staff, Bani still worked as part of government as he was performing sod cutting ceremonies along with other officials in the Volta region especially within the Kpando Municipality.

Minister of Interior

Bani was appointed as the

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

as part of a ministerial reshuffle by John Dramani Mahama on 19 January 2016. He took over from Mark Woyongo who had been moved to the presidency to serve as Minister of state. His appointment was received with great pleasure and excitement from people within his native town Kpando.

National Security Coordinator

On January 3, 2025, he was appointed as team lead for an interim national security team by president

.Subsequent to that, he was appointed as National Security Advisor to the president on January 15 2025.

Philanthropy work

Bani built and donated a Mother and Baby Unit to Margaret Marquart Catholic Hospital in Kpando in the

Volta Region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...

in October 2019. He built it based on reports of inadequate facilities to facilitate the delivery of children and to lack of equipment within the hospital. The unit is meant to drastically reduce the mortality rates of mothers and their babies within the Kpando municipal area. In September 2018, Bani was appointed as the board chairman of the Dialysis Services Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization aimed at providing for the medical expenses of patients with kidney failures.

Publications

• D.K. Bani and Julius Ihonvbere; "The State Non-governmental Organizations and Development in Africa," Foreign Affairs Reports vol. XLIII, No. 6, June 1994. • Prosper D.K. Bani; Review of Ihonvbere, Julius O., Nigeria: The Politics of Adjustment and Democracy, New Brunswick, NJ and London, UK; transaction Publishers 1994. 231pp. In Journal of Third World Studies, vol. XI, No. 2, Fall 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bani, Prosper Douglas Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Chiefs of staff of Ghana People from Volta Region University of Ghana alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni United Nations Development Programme officials Ministers for the interior of Ghana