Kwesimintsim Constituency NPP Primaries: Candidates’ Profile – Hon. Joe Mensah vrs Dr. Prince H. Armah

• Posted on June 16, 2020June 16, 2020
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

As a total of 371 contestants in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been given the clearance to battle it out for 165 seats in the parliamentary primaries which is slated for Saturday, June, 20, 2020, www.233times.net will profile Candidates in selected constituencies. The focus constituency in this publication is the Kwesimintsim Constituency (in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly) in the Western Region.

The Kwesimintsim Constituency was ‘gerrymandered’ from the Effia-Kwesimintsim Constituency with its first Member of Parliament (MP) being Joe Baidoo-Ansah in 2012.

Joe Mensah, a first timer Member of Parliament (MP) took over from Joe Baidoo-Ansah in a close contest prior to the 2016 general elections. Currently representing the people of Kwesimintsim Constituency in Parliament, he is facing Dr. Prince Armah, the Executive Secretary of National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) in a fierce contest coming Saturday.

Below are the profiles of the contenders, Hon. Joe Mensah and Dr. Prince Armah:

Profile of Hon. Joe Mensah

Joseph Mensah is the incumbent MP of Kwesimintsim Constituency. He is an alumnus of Fijai Secondary School in Sekondi, Western Region of Ghana where he obtained GCE O’level certificate in General Arts from 1972 – 1977.

He proceeded to Workers College from 1979 -1981 to obtain GCE A levels certificate in Economics, History and Geography. From 1988-1992, Joe Mensah pursued diploma in education from University of Cape Coast. He further pursued Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Sociology also at University of Cape Coast from 1988 – 1992. From University of Antwerp (Belgium), Honourable Joe Mensah has Masters in Port Administration and Harbour Management (from 1995- 1996).

Joe Mensah is a member of Institute of Logistics and Transport and a council member of Takoradi Technical University (formerly Takoradi Polytechnic). He served as a board member of Takoradi Polytechnic from 2009 to 2014. From 2015 to 2016, Hon. Joe Mensah was a part time Lecturer of logistics and transport (CILT) at the Takoradi Polytechnic from 2015 – 2016.

At Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), he held various positions like Accounts Supervisor, Training Officer, Training Manager, Human Resource Manager and Operations Manager.

Profile of Dr. Prince Hamid Armah

Dr. Prince Hamid Armah is a Lecturer and an education and research consultant with teaching, research and policy engagement experiences in both the United Kingdom and Ghana contexts for over 18 years.

He is currently the Executive Secretary of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), having been appointed by President Akufo -Addo. Dr. Armah’s scholarship centres around intersections of education policy and practice, focusing on educational achievement, instruction, reform, system capacity and control. He has expertise in quantitative methods and data analysis, having been trained at the Doctoral Training Centres (DTCs) of the Universities of Nottingham, Edinburgh and Manchester with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council of the United Kingdom, where he specialized in applying quantitative methods to the examination of issues in curriculum standard setting and maintenance, and the design and awarding of national curriculum tests.

He is a member of the Technical Team of the Ministry of Education leading the development and finalization of Ghana’s Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2030 and, associated Medium-Term Development Plan 2018-2021.

He has consulted for several funded projects of national and international organizations including The World Bank, USAID, UKAID/DFID, UN Education Commission, Ministry of Education/Ghana Education Service, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the National Teaching Council, Colleges of Education, among others, contributing to national development in various ways particularly in the area of human capital development. He has been widely published in the Ghanaian and international media for his insightful policy suggestions and opinions for improving Ghana’s education system, and has over 40 written publications including policy documents, reports, speeches, peer and non-peer reviewed papers on a range of educational issues in Ghana.

He is member of several international organisations including the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM) UK, the Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) UK, and the Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMEN) UK. He holds a PhD degree in Mathematics Education from the University of Aberdeen, UK with specialization in Curriculum, Pedagogy and Educational Policy.

In addition, Dr. Armah is ardent believer in the liberal democratic political tradition. He has an enviable record in political leadership, grassroots mobilization and party administration having served the party within the Sekondi-Takoradi area particularly, Western Region generally, and the nation at the large.

Author: Nana Kwesi Coomson (www.233times.net) @nkcoomson on Twitter/Instagram