Theresa Tagoe Joins Ancestors

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday January 1, 2011
Hundreds of people from all walks of life, particularly members of New Patriotic Party (NPP), at the weekend thronged the Dansoman Keep Fit in Accra to pay their last respect to Theresa Amarley Tagoe, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South.

Notable among the mourners was the flagbearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who paid glowing tribute to the former NPP MP for her contribution towards the development of both the party and country.

Before the funeral, a service was held at the Ebenezer Society of Methodist Church at Dansoman where Nana Akufo-Addo, who was downcast, described the late Ms. Tagoe as “dynamic and uncompromising.”

He said the late MP worked tirelessly to help strengthen the party at the grassroots level, especially in Parliament, adding that as one of the four women pioneers to enter the House on the ticket of the NPP, the late Ms. Tagoe’s contributions will never go unnoticed.

“The party’s women’s wing, which is growing from strength to strength, owes Theresa Tagoe, its founder, an immense debt of gratitude… Our party and country have lost a great servant of freedom,” he said.

Apart from the NPP flagbearer, other party bigwigs such as the NPP Chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Ocquaye also mounted the podium to eulogize the late Mrs. Tagoe.

The late Theresa Amarley Tagoe was born in Apedwa in the Eastern Region near Kyebi to Teacher James Tagoe and Madam Janet Oponmaa Bempong on December 13, 1943.

Her father passed away when she was only six years old, which forced her paternal grandmother, popularly called Abeley Kooko, to bring her down to Accra to start school at Bishop’s Girls School.

She continued to Krobo Girls and obtained her Ordinary Level Certificate and then proceeded to Aburi Girls School where she obtained Advanced Level Certificate.

She proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, History and Sociology.

Between 1970 and 1980, the late MP worked with three different agencies; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations Economic Development and Planning Institute (IDEP), Senegal, and Agricultural Development Bank, ending up as Assistant Director to the Director of Research.

Her Parliamentary career began in 1996 when she was elected as an MP for Ablekuma South in the Greater Accra Region and won two subsequent elections to retain the seat until she decided not to contest in 2008, which coincidentally led the NPP to concede that seat to Fritz Baffuor of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

She served as Deputy Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Deputy Minister of Works and Housing and Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister during the previous Kufuor administration.

Ms. Tagoe was also the proprietress of Agence D’or Secretarial Institute, one of the leading and prestigious bilingual secretarial schools in Ghana.

Affectionately called T.T, the resilient and gravelly-voiced former legislator, whose political valor captured nationwide attention, was a career politician and her interest in politics dates back to her days at Aburi Girls Secondary School, one of Ghana’s well known female educational institutions.

She was best known for her nonchalant, no nonsense attitude which sometimes rubbed people in her own party.

Her claim to fame can be traced back to December 1999 where she led protests against perceived government inaction over the murder of countless women in the Greater Accra Region under the watch of former President Rawlings.

Ms. Tagoe will be remembered as a tough-talking parliamentarian and women’s right advocate who was courageous.

Many Ghanaians will also miss her atypical mixture of English, Ga and Twi during interviews and parliamentary proceedings. Though colloquial it became her signature tune which was exciting, endearing and mortifying all at the same time.

During her vetting in Parliament in 2001, she told the vetting committee that “yes I like talking. Sometimes I get out and sit on my steps and just talk to people passing. Through talking I become dynamic.” Her hobbies included reading, dancing and talking.

Mrs. Tagoe passed away on Thursday, November 25, 2010 after a protracted illness. Her remains were laid to rest at Akyem Hemang.