The University of Ghana, Legon has produced some successful alumni who have excelled not only in Ghana but other parts of the world as well. Most of the alumni of this university are very prominent people in society.
In this post, I have selected 10 of the most successful University of Ghana alumni of the and their contributions to society.
Note: The list is not arranged in any particular order.
1. Vicki Miles-LaGrange
Vicki Miles-LaGrange is a University of Ghana alumna who has achieved a lot in her personal life and in serving the United States of America Government. She graduated and received a certificate from the University of Ghana in 1973.
Miles-LaGrange is a United States District Judge of Oklahoma. She was the first African-American woman to be sworn in as United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
She was also the first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate. Vicki Miles-LaGrange is one of America’s most seasoned and dedicated career public servants.
She has served in the three branches of the American government and was twice nominated by President Bill Clinton.
2. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng
Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng is one of the most notable University of Ghana alumni and a well-known Ghanaian who is remembered for performing heart surgery in Ghana.
He graduated from the University of Ghana Medical School in 1975 with MB, ChB degrees, and qualified as a general surgeon, cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon after undertaking his postgraduate studies at the Hannover Medical University, Germany in 1978.
In 1985, he was recognized as the first black person to perform a heart transplant. He returned home in 1989 to establish the National Cardiothoracic Centre and the Ghana Heart Foundation.
He later joined the University of Ghana Medical School as a lecturer in 2000 and was promoted associate professor the same year. He was made a full professor in 2002, and also served as the head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Ghana Medical School.
Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng currently serves as a Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovations in the government of Ghana.
3. George Ayittey
Dr. George Ayittey was a Distinguished Economist at American University, in Washington, DC. where he taught Development Economics and Africa’s Economic Crisis at both undergraduate and graduate levels from 1990 to 2008.
Ayittey is a UG Alumnus who holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon, and later came back to serve as an Assistant Professor.
He has served as Associate Professor at Bloomsburg University, Assistant Professor at Wayne State College, Distinguished African Scholar in the African Studies Department at the University of Delaware, and Visiting Scholar in the Center For Study of Public Choice at George Mason University.
4. Akua Kuenyehia
Akua Kuenyehia is a Ghanaian lawyer who has been a judge of the International Criminal Court since 2003. She is also one of the only three female African judges at the ICC.
She represented Ghana on the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women committee in 2003 and worked hard to contribute to its reputation and influence.
Kuenyehia was educated at the University of Ghana and Oxford University. She has spent most of her professional career teaching at the University of Ghana, as Dean of Law, and as a visiting professor at other institutions including Leiden University and Temple University.
5. Mabel Agyemang
Her Ladyship Mrs. Justice Mabel Maame Agyemang is a superior court judge who has served in the judiciaries of the governments of Ghana, The Gambia, and Swaziland. She was the first female Chief Justice of The Gambia.
She began working for the Commonwealth Secretariat as an expert judge in 2004, first being sent to The Gambia where she spent four years as a High Court judge and later appointed Chief Justice of the Gambia in August 2013.
In 2008, she was seconded to Swaziland where she served for two years in a similar capacity. One of her notable judgments in Swaziland was her judgment on the right to free education.
6. Komla Dumor
Komla Afeke Dumor one of UG’s notable and successful alumni was a Ghanaian journalist who worked for BBC World News and was the main presenter of its program Focus on Africa.
His grandfather was Philip Gbeho, composer of the Ghanaian national anthem, and his uncle was leading Ghanaian diplomat Victor Gbeho.
See also: List of African Universities that Have Produced Nobel Prize Winners
Komla Dumor initially studied pre-clinical medicine at the University of Jos, Nigeria, but left for his home country where he started as a medical student at the University of Ghana but later graduated with a BSc. in Sociology and Psychology, and from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government with a Master’s of Public Administration.
Dumor died on 18 January 2014 in his London home after a cardiac arrest, having been on the air the day before.
7. Mohammed Ibn Chambas
Mohamed Ibn Chambas is a lawyer, a popular diplomat, and a Ghanaian politician who holds degrees in Political Science from University of Ghana, Legon (B.A. 1973) and Cornell University Ithaca, New York (M.A. 1977, Ph.D. 1980). He has a law degree from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
In 2001, Chambas was elected as the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
On 20 December 2012, he was appointed as Joint Special Representative for Darfur and Head of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
8. Georgina Theodora Wood
Georgina Theodora Wood is a judge and also a former police prosecution officer. She was the Chief Justice of Ghana and the first woman to occupy that position.
She was a graduate of the University of Ghana, awarded a law degree (the LL.B.) in 1970.
She was awarded the highest national order in 2017. She swore in three presidents during her time in charge as a Chief Justice of Ghana. Georgina Wood is one of the most successful alumnae of the University of Ghana.
9. Anas Aremeyaw Anas
Anas Aremeyaw Anas, better known as Anas, is a Ghanaian investigative journalist who is famous for utilizing his anonymity as a tool in his investigations, focusing on issues of human rights and anti-corruption in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa.
Anas, one of the most influential people in Ghana attended the University of Ghana for a degree in journalism.
He has won multiple awards for journalism and advocating against slavery, and his investigative works have won him worldwide attention.
Barack Obama in a speech during a 2009 visit to Ghana said: “We see that spirit in courageous journalists like Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who risked his life to report the truth.”
Bill Gates was asked to say something about Anas and he replied: “Anas Aremeyaw Anas, an Undercover Journalist who tells troubling but truthful stories in support of social justice in Africa”.
Anas’s motto is ‘name, shame, and jail.’
10. Philip Fofie Amoateng
Philip Fofie Amoateng, another successful University of Ghana Alumnus has enjoyed a successful career, predominantly in the Information and Telecommunication Technology industry across Africa.
Philip is an alumnus of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) where he graduated with a B.Sc. (Admin.) Accounting option. He is also a chartered accountant (a fellow of ACCA) and a graduate of the University of Leicester and University of Salford with both MBA and LLM respectively.
Mr. Amoateng was the Managing Director of Airtel Rwanda, prior to this, he was the CEO of Tigo Rwanda from 2016 to 2018.
He has held several strategic roles in operations and finance within the Millicom Group (Tigo’s parent company) and consistently delivered incremental value for more than 16 years.
He was instrumental in the successful turnaround of Tigo Ghana from 2014 – 2016 when the business recorded impressive subscriber growth numbers, improved profitability, and massive service delivery improvements.
From 2005 to 2009 and 2010 to 2014 he was the Chief Operations and Chief Financial Officer for Tigo Sierra Leone and Tigo Rwanda, respectively.
He also worked as the GSM Network Project Officer in Chad and Systems Design and Implementation manager for SOFT-Tribe, a top-three Ghanaian software development company.
In November 2018, Philip Fofie Amoateng was appointed as the new Managing Director of Vodacom Lesotho, a member of Vodafone Telecommunications Africa Group.
