Ursula Owusu

Ursula Owusu
Member of the Ghana Parliament
for Ablekuma West constituency
Assumed office
2012
Personal details
Born (1964-10-20) 20 October 1964
Akim Oda, Ghana
Political party New Patriotic Party
Spouse(s) Sam Ekuful
Children 1
Alma mater University of Ghana
Profession Lawyer

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful is a lawyer, women's rights activist and a Ghanaian parliamentarian representing Ablekuma West constituency.[1][2][3] In 2016 she was the Minister of Communications. In April 2018 she suffered a backlash from section of the Ghanaian community when she made headlines for sharing a post on social media that suggested Ghanaian Muslims were intolerant.[4]

Early life

Owusu-Ekuful was born on 20 October 1964. She hails from Akim Oda in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

Education

Owusu-Ekuful attended Labone Senior High School and proceeded to Mfantisman Girls Secondary School to have her sixth form education. She furthered her education in University of Ghana and the Ghana School Of Law where she obtained an LLB. She was called to the bar in 1990.[5] She has attended courses including one at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.[5]

Career

She worked for ten years as a lawyer before leading a technology company. In 2012 she was elected to be the Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma West Constituency.[5] In 2015 she and other women MPs were subject to personal attacks after there was a dispute over places reserved for women members of parliament. She was reported as saying that she was considering her future in politics,[6] but the following year she became the Minister of Communications.[5]

Before her current position as the Minister of Communication she served on different boards and in different capacities in her professional career.[7] She served as a Managing Consultant, N. U. Consult Legal, Governance and Gender Consultants, the Director of Vodafone Ghana Company Limited, a member of Ghana Bar Association, an Executive Member of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Ghana and a member of African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA), Ghana. [8]

Adhan controversy

Following the suggestion by Kwabena Frimpong Boateng as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovations, for Mosques using external speakers for the Adhan to consider gathering their congregation using text message and WhatsApp messenger, sections of the Ghanaian community were discontented by their perceived "impracticality" of the proposal[9] and reproached the Minister for making the suggestion.[10] This was considered by some observers as an exhibition of intolerance among members of the Muslim community in Ghana.[11]

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful shared an article on her Facebook wall from Ghanaweb.com, that agreed with the latter position, suggesting that she herself held the same view that "Muslims in Ghana are intolerant".[12] She later deleted the Facebook post and wrote a rejoinder on Modernghana.com disassociating herself from that article.[13]

Personal

She is married with one child.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Members of Parliament | Parliament of Ghana". www.parliament.gh. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  2. ↑ "I beg for money each month to survive - Ursula Owusu". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  3. ↑ "Ghana MPs - MP Details - Owusu, G. Ursula". www.ghanamps.gov.gh. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  4. ↑ "Ursula Owusu shares the belief that Muslims are intolerant". Ghananewsonline. 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ursula Owusu-Ekuful – Communications - Government of Ghana". www.ghana.gov.gh. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  6. ↑ Myjoyonline.com. "Ghana News - "Sad" Ursula Owusu to reassess political future". www.myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  7. ↑ "Ursula Owusu: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  8. ↑ "Ursula Owusu: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  9. ↑ "Call to prayer: Text messages suggestion unreasonable – Chief Imam - Starr Fm". Starr Fm. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  10. ↑ "Muslim groups demand removal of Prof. Frimpong Boateng for 'call to prayer' comment". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  11. ↑ "Ursula Owusu shares the belief that Muslims are intolerant". Ghananewsonline. 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  12. ↑ "Rejoinder: Ursula Owusu Claims Muslims Are Intolerant — INSIDER". INSIDER. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  13. ↑ Samih, Fadi Dabbousi. "Rejoinder: Ursula Owusu Claims Muslims Are Intolerant". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
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