Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa, also known by the name Mrs. Theresa Owusu, is aGhanaian traditional ruler, politician,public servant and diplomat. She is a woman chief in theEastern Region ofGhana. She holds the title of the Dompiahene of theAkuapem Traditional Area.[1] She was the deputy minister forFinance and Economic Planning, the first female deputy governor of theBank of Ghana, and Ghana's ambassador toBelgium and theEuropean Union.
She was born on 26 September 1938 to Kate Oye Ntow Ofosu and Eric Perigrino Nelson.[2] She had her secondary education atWesley Girls High School and her tertiary education at theUniversity of Ghana. Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa is the sister of the lateVida Amaadi Yeboah, who was onceMinister for Tourism in theRawlings government.
Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa held the position of second deputy governor of theBank of Ghana from 1989 -1997, being the first female to be appointed to this position.[3] From 1994 -1997, she served as a member of the board of directors of theSocial Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT),[4] she was also a member of the Board of Trustees of theGhana College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2007.[5] Additionally, she has held the positions of Deputy Minister at theMinistry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ambassador ofGhana toBelgium and to theEuropean Union.[6] She spearheaded the move to establish the Ghana Women Fund, and served as its first board chairman after it was founded in 2001.[7] In 2009, she was appointed by former PresidentJohn Evans Atta Mills as a member of the Board of theGhana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).[8]
She is the founder and Lead coordinator of the Akuapem Community Foundation, which she established in 2005, with the aim of tackling issues of education, gender, youth, morality, public affairs, and disability needs in her traditional area.[9]
Women traditional leaders such as Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa are being studied in aUniversity of Ghana project titled"Women and Political Participation in Africa: A comparative Study of Representation and Role of Female chiefs". This project is funded by theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation and is based at theUniversity of Ghana. In this project, a mixed-methods approach is adopted to comparatively study women's representation in the institution of chieftaincy and their influence on women's rights and wellbeing in Botswana, Ghana, Liberia, and South Africa.[10][11] Lead researchers on the project,Peace A. Medie, Adriana A. E Biney, Amanda Coffie and Cori Wielenga, have also published an opinion piece titled "Women traditional leaders could help make sure the pandemic message is heard" inThe Conversation news, which discusses how women traditional leaders can educate their subjects onCOVID-19.[12]
Funding from theBritish Academy has enabledPeace. A. Medie to continue working on this project.