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Elizabeth Ohene opposes corrupt public officials in Ghana. She has stated that corruption should be known as “stealing” and pointed out that it is a scourge on progress for any country.

She has stood up for freedom of the press. In 2016, she advocated for a reporter who was banned from the Ghana Parliament for suspected misreporting, stating that she believes a reporter’s job is to push boundaries, and that mistakes should be a teachable moment but nothing more severe.

Elizabeth Ohene is in favor of limiting the population growth in Ghana, as a measure to decrease poverty. She supports the work of Dr. Leticia Adelaide Appiah, Executive Director of the National Population Council, and Appiah’s proposal that women in Ghana should be limited to three children or lose access to free government services.

Elizabeth Ohene has been criticized by the Volta Youth Forum for her lack of support for traditional rulers, specifically for her harsh words against Togbe Afede XIV, the Paramount Chief of the Asogli State and the President of the National House of Chiefs in 2018.

Elizabeth Ohene began her career in journalism with the Daily Graphic in Ghana, during a time of political upheaval, and relocated to London to continue her work as a journalist as the publisher and editor of a weekly news magazine called Talking Drums. She later become the Deputy Editor of Daily Programmes in the African Service division of BBC World Service. Elizabeth Ohene lived in London for 19 years, after leaving Ghana in need of sanctuary. She remembers London fondly, even now that Ghana is a relatively safe and stable country.

Ghana is now considered the safest country for African journalists, and freedom of the press is reportedly thriving. World Press Freedom Day, sponsored by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was hosted in Ghana in May 2018. This was a significant gesture, as under the regime of Jerry John Rawlings journalists were often classified as enemies of the state and were often tortured and killed.  Elizabeth Ohene was working as the editor of the Daily Graphic in Ghana while Rawlings was in control of the country. She published an editorial questioning Rawling’s rule, and she had to leave the country to escape his wrath. She went to London, and established a magazine, Talking Drums, with two colleages who escaped with her. The purpose of Talking Drums was to have a platform to expose the human rights abuses happening in Ghana.

Elizabeth Ohene

Elizabeth Akua Ohene (born 24 January 1945) is a Ghanaian journalist and a politician as a former Minister of State.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Ohene was born on 24 January 1945 in Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana.

She attended Mawuli School and gained admission to the University of Ghana in 1964, graduating with B. A. (Hon.) degree in English in 1967. She also attended the University of Indiana, in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, where she obtained a Mass Communication Certificate. She was a Press Fellow from January to June 1983 at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.

Career

Ohene worked as a journalist at the Daily Graphic and in 1979 became the first woman in Africa to edit a major national daily newspaper. She went into exile after criticising the government of Jerry Rawlings. She is a former Minister of State to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. She is also part of the award-winning BBC Focus on Africa team. Ohene was also the spokesperson in former President John Kufuor's administration.