Akan constituency MP Engr. Yao Gomado, a definition of selfless leadership

Engr. Yao Gomado

From denying himself the luxury and prestige of riding in a V8 Landcruiser vehicle like other Members of Parliament (MPs), to rather invest in the wellbeing of his constituents, Akan Constituency MP in the Oti Region, Engr. Yao Go­mado, is setting an example as far as selfless leadership is concerned.

Voted into power in 2020 on the ticket of the National Democrat­ic Congress (NDC), Engr. Gomado easily won the 2024 primaries to contest for another four years, ow­ing to his unmatched track record as a first timer in areas including health, education, roads and most significantly, portable water for his constituents.

To address the acute water challenge within the constituency, Engr, Gomado with support from some non-governmental organisa­tions, constructed 52 manual and 39 mechanised boreholes during his first term.

He also organised six consecutive free eye screening exercises which benefitted over 11,000 constitu­ents and fully paid for surgeries for several people referred to the St. Joseph and St. Theresa Hospitals to restore their sights.

He also ensured the provision of ultramodern facilities at the St. Theresa Hospital Eye Clinic to operate efficiently.

On education, Engr. Gomado pro­vided laptops, desktops and print­ers to the Kadjebi district director­ate of the Ghana Education Service (GES), donated 43-inch flat-screen television sets to the Kadjebi-Asato Senior High School (SHS), Dodi-Pa­pase Senior High Technical School and Ahamansu Islamic Senior High School in order to ensure students were abreast of current news across the globe.

He also donated 1,440 mathe­matical sets to candidates of the 2021 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as well as 1,260 and 1,600 sets to the 2022 and 2023 BECE candidates, respec­tively, aside organising Special Mock Examination with supervision from the GES to improve BECE results.

With the interventions, the re­sults improved from 21 per cent in 2021 to the currently (2023) 70.7 per cent with expectation of an increase this year.

On roads, Engr. Gomado re­shaped the Dapaa Junction via Do­do-Amanfrom to Dodo-Fie feeder roads as well as Dodo-Amanfrom to Dodi-Atta Kofi portions, using his four-year salary as collateral to purchase equipment for the con­struction.

Born on October 20, 1966, Mr Go­mado started school at the Agbo­zome AME Zion Primary School and wrote his Common Entrance exams in 1978 after which he enrolled in the Royal Technical Institute (RO­TECO) in Nungua where he studied Electrical Engineering Practice between 1978 and 1982.

He then went to Takoradi Poly­technic now Takoradi Technical University to study Electrical Engineering Technician Part Two in 1983.

While studying at ROTECO, young Gomado was living at Tema Com­munity 5 and would usually walk to and from school since there was no money for transportation.

“I connect the beach road to Tema from Nungua through the Regional Maritime University (RMU) then the Regional Maritime Acade­my, and always admired the offi­cers in the Navy uniform and stu­dents in the cadet uniform. That was where my dream of becoming a Marine Engineer was nursed. Eventually I gained admission to the Maritime Academy in 1985 to pursue Marine Electrical Engineer­ing and graduated in 1987,” he narrated.

He began his career as a Mer­chant Navy Personnel with a Singaporean company before his national service at Akosombo Volta Lake Transport Company where he was attached to a German compa­ny that build the current tug boats and cargo barges that transport goods from the Akosombo port to Buipe.

Owing to his technical back­ground, he was promoted to Junior Electrical Engineer in five months ahead of the 12 months manda­tory cadetship and rose to Senior Marine Electrical Engineer.

From 1989 to 2011, Mr Gomado had sailed waters across the globe as Marine Electrical Engineer with shipping companies including Nep­tune Orient Lines, Singapore, Pacif­ic Carriers Limited, Singapore and its sister company, PSM Perkapalan Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia.

In 2011, he decided to settle in Ghana and build his career since he had attained much experience and his expertise were needed at ports and shipyards/drydocks across the continent.

While in Ghana, he was instru­mental in the contribution of the FPSO Evans Attah-Mills and J.A Ku­fuor in 2016 and 2017 respectively, as he was in charge of the cali­bration of welding and fabrication equipment working with Seaweed Engineering Limited in Takoradi.

Mr Gomedo then built a hotel in 2018 at Klagon in Accra where he hosted the executives of the Akan Constituency who were in the capi­tal for Congress.

Moved by his generosity, the executives invited him to join the party and contest in the 2020 pri­maries where he won to begin his political life.

For him, it has been a smooth journey and looking forward to another four years of service to his people and making their liveli­hoods better.

He is also looking forward to contributing to the reduction of unemployment by the John Ma­hama led admiration with focus on the maritime sector as done in other developed countries owing to his experience in the sector for over 25 years.

“Universities must begin to provide courses that will provide immediate jobs for the youth, otherwise, they must be scrapped to avoid the many unemployed graduate situations in Ghana,” he advocated.

Mr Gomado is happily married with three children and describes himself as a politician, a musician, businessman and marine engineer who was inducted by the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ghana in 2017.

He loves music and was in a band for some time. He released an album in 2007, and scheduled to release another one in coming days. He also loves football and athletics.

By Michael D. Abayateye