Paa Kwesi Nduom

Hon. Paa Kwesi Nduom MP
Member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem
In office January 2005 – January 2009
Preceded by	Ato Quarshie
Succeeded by	Joseph Samuel Annan
Majority	15,554
Personal details
Born	Joseph Hubster Yorke Jr. 15 February 1953 Elmina, Ghana
Nationality	Ghanaian
Political party	Progressive People's Party
Other political affiliations	Convention People's Party (until Jan 2012)
Spouse(s)	Mrs. Yvonne Nduom
Children	Nana Kweku, Edjah, Chief and Nana Aba
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin
Profession	Business consultant and politician
Religion	Catholic
Website	http://www.nduom.com/

Paa Kwesi Nduom or Papa Kwesi Nduom, (born February 15, 1953) is a business consultant and politician. He is the Progressive People's Party's aspiring candidate for president. In 2008, he was the Convention People's Party's nominee to contest the Ghanaian presidential election in December 2008. He is also the current member of parliament for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem constituency and has served as minister of state in various portfolios in the Kufuor government between 2001 and 2007. He was named after his father as Joseph Hubster Yorke Jr.

Early life and education

Paa Kwesi Nduom was born at Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana.^[1] He had his secondary education at the St. Augustine's College in Cape Coast, where he obtained both the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary and Advanced Levels. He proceeded to the United States where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1975. He subsequently went on to get a Master's degree in Management (1977) and a Ph.D (Service Delivery Systems) in 1982 at the same university.^[1]

Career

Nduom started work as a life insurance underwriter with the North Western Mutual Life Insurance Company between 1975 and 1978. Over the next year, he worked with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin. In 1979, he joined the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District as a Budget and Management Analyst.^[1] In 1981, he joined Deloitte and Touche as an associate consultant, rising to become a partner in the Milwaukee office of the firm by 1986. In 1992, he helped establish the Deloitte & Touche, West Africa Consulting.^[2]

He served as a board member for Fan Milk Ghana Limited, Edinaman Secondary School and the Ghana Heritage and Conservation Trust.

Politics

District Assembly

His active role in politics began in 1997 when he was elected as a member of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem District Assembly for the Akotobinsin Electoral Area.^[3]

National politics

In December 2000, he unsuccessfully contested the Ghanaian parliamentary elections for the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem constituency on the ticket of the Convention People's Party (CPP). He lost to the incumbent MP, Ato Quarshie of the National Democratic Congress by a margin of 2.6% of the valid votes cast.^[4] Two months later however, he was appointed by President John Kufuor as the Minister for Energy although he was not a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party. He also served during this period as the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission.^[5][6] During a cabinet reshuffle in April 2003, Nduom became the Minister for Energy.^[7][8] 18 months later, he again contested the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem seat in the Ghanaian parliamentary election in December 2004 and this time round, he won with a majority of 15,554 (33.6%).^[9][10] At the time, he served as the chairman of the Organising Committee of the CPP. Early in President Kufuor's second term of office, Nduom became the Minister for Public Sector Reform.^[11] He continued in this capacity till July 2007 when he resigned from government to seek his party's nomination to stand as the CPP presidential candidate.^[12]

Bid for president

In December 2007, Nduom was nominated by the CPP to contest the December 2008 presidential election.^[13][14] Nduom lost the elections, getting less than 1% of the vote.^[15] During the CPP party elections of 2011, Candidates reportedly supported by Paa Kwesi Nduom including then Chairman Ladi Nylander lost to newer candidates including Samia Nkrumah daughter of Ghana first president Kwame Nkrumah^[16] Months later Paa Kwesi Nduom was accused by the Convention People's Party of going against the party's regulations.^[17] Paa Kwesi Nduom subsequently issued statements, first asking his supporters to stop working against the party, then later issued a statement which though did not talk of a breakaway, to all intents and purposes appeared to do so. In January 2012, Paa Kwesi Nduom formed his own party to contest the 2012 elections, the Progressive People's Party.^[18] The CPP subsequently threw him out^[19]

Family

Nduom is married to Mrs. Yvonne Nduom, a management specialist and graduate of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and the University of Wisconsin in the United States.^[20] They are married with four children, Nana Kweku Nduom, Edjah Kweku Nduom, Chief Nduom, and Nana Aba Nduom. Nana Kweku is married to Esinam Julia Nduom (née Baeta) and they have a daughter, Maame Adjoa Kakraba Nduom. Edjah is married to Kelley Nduom (née Coleman).^[21]

See also

• Kufuor government

Notes

1. "Minister of Planning and Regional Integration - Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom". Famous Ghanaians. Ghana Home Page. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
2. "Professional Career". Nduom official website. Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
3. "Dr. Nduom in Government: 2001 - 2007". Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
4. "Republic of Ghana - Legislative Election of 7 December 2000". Adam Carr's Election Archives. Archived from the original on 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
5. Frank Agyei Twum (2007-07-11). "Nduom is out". News Comment. The Statesman. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
6. "MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC PLANNING & REGIONAL COOPERATION FEBRUARY 2001 – APRIL 2003". Nduom official website. Archived from the original on 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
7. "Government names new Cabinet". General News of Tuesday, 1 April 2003 (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2008-03-06.
8. "Minister for Energy - APRIL 2003 - JANUARY 2005". Nduom official website. Archived from the original on 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
9. "Elections 2004 - Ghana's Parliamentary and Presidential Elections" (PDF). Parliamentary Election Results for Region Central by the Electoral Commission. Electoral Commission of Ghana, with support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Accra. November 2005. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
10. "Parliamentary Results Komenda/Edina Eguafo/Abirem (Central Region)". Results Parliamentary Elections (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2008-03-06.
11. "Kufuor restructures ministerial team". General News of Friday, 28 April 2006 (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2008-03-06.
12. "Nduom quits government". Press Review of Tuesday, 10 July 2007 (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2008-03-06.
13. "Nduom wins CPP race". General News of Monday, 17 December 2007 (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2008-03-06.
14. "Paa Kwesi Nduom Wins CPP Race". Politics,General News (VibeGhana.com). 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
15. Koomson, Fiifi (2011-08-11). "Nduom: Election 2008 defeat is worst failure in my life". Joy FM. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
16. Dadzie, Kewku (2011-10-11). "Did Kwesi Nduom take first step to leave the CPP?". GhanaWeb. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
17. Gadugah, Nathan (2011-08-28). "Enough! Nduom’s nonsense must stop! - Samia Nkrumah". Joy Online. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
18. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=227025,http://politics.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201201/79335.php,http://gbcghana.com/index.php?id=1.724848. Missing or empty |title= (help)
19. "CPP Elders sack Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom". GhanaToGhana.com. 2012-01-14.
20. "Mrs. Yvonne Nduom". Nduom official website. Archived from the original on 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
21. "The Children". Nduom official website. Archived from the original on 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-06.

External links and sources

• Official Campaign Website
• Nduom website
• Profile on Ghana Home Page
• Pictures of Central Region MPs on GhanaDistricts.com