Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang

Professor Opoku-Agyemang taught and worked at the University of Cape Coast, starting in 1986. She has held various academic positions including: Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Warden of Adehye Hall, Valco Trust Fund Post-Graduate Hostel, and the Founding Dean of School of Graduate Studies and Research. From 1997, she has held the position of Academic Director of the School for International Training in the History and Cultures of the African Diaspora. From 2008 to 2012 she was the university's Vice Chancellor. She assumed duty on 1 October 2008, succeeding Emmanuel Addow-Obeng.

In March, 2007, she was one of five scholars selected to deliver presentations during the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.[10]

In October 2009, she was elected Ghana's representative to the executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).[11]

Ahead of the 2012 general elections, Jane Opoku Agyemang moderated the debate with Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.[12]

On 26 October 2018, she became the Chancellor of the Women's University in Africa located in Zimbabwe.[13][14]

She has served on many local and international boards and committees such as the Centre for Democratic Governance, (CDD-Ghana),[15] the editorial board of the Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora (Africa World Press Inc. USA),[16] the Africa Initiative in Canada, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons as an Eminent Citizen.[17]

Opoku-Agyemang is an author. Her focus areas includes Literature with a focus on Women from Ghana, Oral literature in Ghana and Africa, Communication Skills and Issues in the African Diaspora. As an academic she has written and published in scholarly journals and presented articles at various conferences including at the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City[10] and at the Inaugural Lecture to the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2015, whilst the Education Minister she published and launched a five volumes collection of published folktales titled ‘Who told the most incredible story?"’[18][19]

Between February 2013 and January 2017 she served as the Minister of Education after she was appointed by President John Mahama to serve in that role after the National Democratic Congress had won the 2012 Ghanaian general election.[20] One of her focus areas was empowering the girl child education and empowering women.[21] During her period of serving as minister for education she also focused on implementing policies that covered inclusiveness in education in Ghana which birth the Inclusive Education Policy 2015. [21]

Opoku-Agyemang campaigning in 2021

Opoku-Agyemang was selected as the presidential running mate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on July 6, 2020 for Ghana’s December 2020 General elections.[22] She became the first female running mate of the two major political parties in Ghana.[23][24][25] Her selection by the flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress was applauded by women groups and women activists as a positive sign to the Ghanaian political scene to promote gender balance and equality. She however received harsh criticisms and sometimes insults from some key members of the ruling NPP, particularly the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka Chairman Wontumi, who called her "ugly" and "witch" during a live radio show on Kumasi-based, Wontumi FM, which he owns. She appealed to Ghanaians to vote for change and promised to use her office as vice president to influence sustainable development and practical youth-centred policies. Her campaign message was devoid of attacks on opponents. Her intensive campaign in the coastal communities and her home region, the Central Region yielded results as the NDC won most of the constituencies they had lost in 2016. The NDC also won 9 out of the 16 regions in Ghana including the major battleground, Greater Accra.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang continues to remain one of the most influential voices in Ghanaian politics. She has criticized the implementation of the government's Free SHS policy which was a major campaign item for the ruling party.[26][27][28][29][30]