Hot!
Catherine Kuupol Kuutor, a trailblazer in Ghana’s mining industry
Catherine Kuupol Kuutor
Catherine Kuupol Kuutor was on May 1, 2024, appointed General Manager of Gold Fields Ghana’s Tarkwa Mine with a huge responsibility to manage all mining areas.
Her recent appointment has received massive plaudits from a lot of women who hailed her as one of the exceptional and hardworking female leaders in the mining industry.
Catherine Kuupol, has been described as a trailblazer in the mining industry driven by a determination to overcome challenges and reach new heights.
Her professional achievements are truly remarkable. Prior to her recent appointment, she made history as Gold Fields West Africa’s first female Metallurgical Manager overseeing operations at both the Tarkwa and Damang sites.
Catherine’s journey exemplifies the transformative impact of hard work, resilience, and unwavering dedication. She has inspired numerous individuals, especially women, to pursue careers in mining and engineering.
Notably, she sponsors two annual academic awards for Outstanding Achievements in Mineral Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology (UmaT), one for the Best Student Overall and another specifically for the Best Female Student. The awards has since motivated young people to excel in school and progress to securing careers in mines and engineering.
She has been a great role model for the youth especially female students within Tarkwa and beyond.
With a strong background in metallurgy, Catherine has devoted her career to unlocking the treasures in rocks while advocating for opportunities and representation of women in mining.
Her academic journey begun with a Diploma in Mineral Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) School of Mines in 2002.
Building on this, she pursued a Master’s degree programme in Mineral Engineering from UMaT, Tarkwa; graduating in 2011. Currently pursuing her Ph.D. at UMaT, Catherine continues to deepen her expertise and understanding in the field.
Her illustrious career began at Golden Star Wassa Mine in 2004, starting as a laboratory metallurgist before progressing through various roles such as Shift Supervisor, Senior Plant Shift Supervisor, and International Cyanide Management Code coordinator.
In 2013, she moved to Abosso Gold Fields Limited – Damang Gold Mine as Plant Technical Superintendent, ascending to Unit Manager in 2015 and assuming leadership as Head of the Metallurgy Department and acted as General Manager at the Tarkwa Mine. She led several business improvement processes that contributed to increasing gold recovery at the Damang plant.
Throughout her professional journey, Catherine has shown unwavering dedication to her profession and colleagues, spearheading business enhancement initiatives leading to notable improvements in gold recovery processes.
Catherine also leads a team of dedicated professionals working towards making huge transformation within Goldfields as their contribution to economic growth.
Her exceptional contributions have gained widespread recognition including awards from the Ghana Chamber of Mines, recognition from Gold Fields Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and being honoured as Female Mining Professional of the Year during the sixth GMIA Awards ceremony in 2020.
Through her tireless efforts, Catherine is actively shaping a brighter future for women in the mining industry, leaving a lasting legacy. Catherine has been described as the ‘woman for the people’ as she makes time to socialise and provide a listening ear to anyone she works with, even on a personal level.
Catherine has set the pace for other women to follow as her rise has since become a motivation to her colleagues and women across industries.
By Michael D. Abayateye
Madam Sandra Seyram Kpedor, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Anloga in the Volta Region, has emphasised the importance of parental involvement in children’s education, stating that education is free, but parents need to do more to support their children.
She said parents, teachers, and students must be involved in addressing the challenges facing the district’s education sector, particularly the poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.
Madam Kpedor outlined some key roles parents should play to promote their children’s education, including providing a conducive learning environment, monitoring their children’s progress, and supporting teachers.
The DCE highlighted some challenges the district faced such as inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of teachers, which have also contributed to the poor BECE results and called on well-to-do parent to help solve the situation through and other supports.
To address the issues, she also announced that plans have been taken to utilise the district’s common fund to implement educational projects, such as constructing school blocks and teachers’ bungalows at Sodzi community, and 2-unit classroom blocks each at Akplorwutorkor and Tegbi-Afedome respectively, among others.
Madam Kpedor also noted that her office had earlier notified the Ministry of Education to deploy more teachers to the area to improve teaching and learning, and encouraged students to work hard and strive for excellence, and work beyond their limit to succeed.
“To my wonderful and beautiful girls, you have to know it clear that women and girls have equal opportunities to compete with men for greater achievements,” she indicated.
The DCE cited her own achievement as a testament to the fact that women can excel in leadership positions, alongside Vice President Nana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and stressed that girls were no longer limited to domestic roles but can pursue their dreams and become leaders.
Additionally, she mentioned that a meeting was held earlier with assembly members, and other stakeholders to address the district’s educational challenges and improve academic performance.
She promised that the district’s education oversight committee and stakeholders would work together to address the challenges and improve the district’s BECE results and called for parental involvement and support to boost the district’s education sector for children to chase their dreams to become future leaders for the success of the district and the nation.
She urged parents not to leave everything to the government but rather help in the provision of some necessary materials such as textbooks, exercise books, pens, pencils, food, and guidance to children for the successes of young learners. –GNA
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
The spokesperson for Dr. Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised the implementation of the NDC government’s No Fee Stress policy, arguing that the programme has failed to deliver on its core promise.
According to him on Starr fm, the policy, which was introduced to ensure stress free payment of fees for level 100 tertiary students, has rather turned into what he described as post stress support.
He explained that students are required to pay their fees first before applying for reimbursement, a situation he believes defeats the purpose of the policy.
He questioned claims by government officials that the policy has been successful and that citizens are happy.
In his view, such claims do not reflect the lived realities of many Ghanaians. He stressed that while some people may appear satisfied, many others continue to struggle.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye pointed to the situation of trained teachers and nurses who have been picketing for nearly six months, demanding employment.
He noted that government responses suggesting it cannot accommodate all of them contradict claims of economic stability.
He further argued that economic indicators such as a stable currency mean little to people who are unable to secure jobs or access promised support.
He observed that telling an unemployed teacher or a struggling student that the cedi has strengthened does not address their immediate challenges.
On the issue of tertiary education, he maintained that no level 100 student benefited from stress free fees in 2025, despite the policy being announced.
He added that in 2026, students have already reported to school without receiving the promised support.
He insisted that asking students to pay fees first and seek reimbursement later amounts to support after hardship, not stress free education.
According to him, this approach goes against what was promised during the policy announcement.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye questioned why a government that presents the economy as strong is unable to fulfil what he described as simple and clear promises.
He added that there is a fundamental problem with the way the economy is being managed and indicated that he is prepared to explain his position further.
By: Jacob Aggrey
