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Celebrating excellence …some female African doctors making impact
It is said that we should believe in our dreams because they have been given to us for a reason and that if we have a heartbeat, there is still time for our dreams.
In this edition, we highlight the stories of some female African medical practitioners who have worked hard to achieve their dreams and continue to leave a trail in their respective fields.
Dr Elizabeth Itotia
The 29-year-old is Kenya’s first female Radiopharmacist also referred to as Nuclear Pharmacist, a pharmacy professional speciality mainly tasked with preparing radioactive drugs in a safe and quality way. These drugs are used for the diagnosis of various diseases, mainly cancer.
Her position came after years of excelling in a demanding male-dominated field.
Dr Itotia obtained a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Nairobi (UoN), which took her five years to complete. She graduated as the valedictorian (best overall student in the entire university) in the class of 2017.
Being a valedictorian, she secured a fully-sponsored scholarship by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to study Radiopharmacy at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in South Africa, which she recently completed.
“My journey in the radiopharmacy world has been interesting as it completes my world. Growing up, I wanted to be in the medical field, mainly to make difference for people with cancer,” Dr Itotia said.
She is a Radiopharmacist/Nuclear Pharmacist at Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital.
Dr Mumtaaz Emeran
The 27-year-old is a South African born Medical Doctor and Philanthropist.
At a young age, she befriended a bad crowd. At age 16, she was pregnant and gave birth prematurely.
“My son was born prematurely and spent two months in the neonatal intensive-care unit. It made me realise I had to take care of him. From that very moment I decided to turn my life around,” Dr Emeran said.
She relocated from Cape Town to Joburg to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, despite the disapproval in her community.
Dr Emeran worked part-time jobs so she could pay her medical school fees at Wits University.
In 2020, few weeks before her graduation, she received an email from the University notifying her that she would not graduate until she had paid off all her outstanding fees.
She shared the devastating news with her Instagram followers in a five-minute video where she explained that she was in desperate need of assistance. The video went viral, South Africans were touched by her story and helped to fundraise the full amount in 24hours.
Dr Emeran is currently doing her internship at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
Dr Helena Ndume
She is a Namibian born award-winning Ophthalmologist and Humanitarian, notable for her charitable work among sufferers of eye-related illnesses in Africa. To date, she has performed sight-restoring surgeries on 35,000 Namibians, completely free of charge.
“There’s no money in this world that can pay the joy of someone who was blind for so many years and then suddenly they regain their vision,” Dr. Ndume said.
Her motivation to serve those less fortunate than her stems from the civil unrest that she witnessed as a child. She was forced to flee her homeland at the age of 15, and lived in Zambia, Gambia (where she completed secondary school), and Angola, before attending medical school in Germany and returned to Namibia after obtaining her Medical degree.
Dr. Ndume is currently the Head of the Ophthalmology Department at Windhoek Central Hospital, Namibia’s largest hospital.
In 2009, she was honoured with a humanitarian award by the NRCS for her work in restoring sight to those blinded by cataracts. In 2015, she became one of the first recipients of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize. In 2018, she was listed as one of BBC’s 100 WOMEN.
Dr Qinisile Diale
She is the Founder and Medical Director of Family Matters, the first female-owned Fertility Clinic in South Africa, Centurion, Pretoria.
The South African born Gynaecologist, Obstetrician and Fertility Specialist, affectionately called Dr Q by her patients, enjoys interacting with other women and is immensely excited by the thought of alleviating other women’s pain and struggles in conceiving.
She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) from the University of Kwazulu-Natal. She completed her internship at Witbank Hospital, rotating in the various medical departments.
She then went on to complete her community service year in Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department. It was during this time that she felt drawn to the field of women’s health and went on to obtain her Postgraduate Diploma in Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
She then worked at Pretoria West Hospital as a Medical Officer and trained as an Obstetrician & Gynaecologist at the University of Pretoria and obtained her qualification as a specialist in 2015, through the Colleges of Medicine South Africa.
Dr Veronica Moshokgo
The Botswana born Medical Doctor, Public Health Clinician, is the Founder and Medical Director at Health Express Clinic – a private medical clinic that focuses on disease prevention and wellness.
She holds a Master of Public Health – MPH, MSc from Imperial College London, Fellowship in Public Management from The Ohio State University, Post-graduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management and Social Sciences from Stellenbosch University, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S) from the University of the West Indies and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Botswana.
Dr Moshokgo practises as a Medical Officer at Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital. She is a co-founder and vice-chairperson of Bound by Love, a charity organisation which provides mentorship and academic essentials to underprivileged students.
By Spectator Reporter
Additional files – Women Power Africa
He once sold kenkey to pay his school fees, and now wears the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police. DCOP Kofi Sarpong, police officer and award winning gospel musician is charting a journey few could script.
In an interview with The Spectator chronicling his rise, the newly promoted DCOP took us on his journey through the ranks.
Early Life
“I was born in Berekum in the Bono Region, then Brong Ahafo, to Comfort Yeboah, affectionately called Maame Yaa, and the late Chief Inspector Kofi Sarpong,” he said.
His family story is one of resilience. His mother had two children before her husband died in an accident. She later married Kofi Sarpong’s father, a police officer, and had two more, himself and his junior brother. “So we are four, unfortunately one is deceased, just last year, so we are three now.”
School and struggle
He started at Berekum Methodist Primary under the old ‘Sito’ system. In Form Two, he moved to Obuasi to stay with a guardian for his Form Three education, then returned to Berekum for Form Four. He later attended Berekum Senior High School where he studied General Arts and shone as an athlete, a sprinter in the 100m, 200m and 4x400m relay.
After O-Levels, his batch was the last to write the exams, his dream was to become a teacher because of his love for children. But financial hardship forced a detour.
“I decided to help myself by going to buy maize and started preparing kenkey to sell at lorry parks and markets in Berekum,” he recalled.
According to him, the people from Berekum know this story. “I can make all types of kenkey, Fante Kenkey, Ga Komi and others. Don’t be surprised to see Kofi Sarpong Kenkey one day.” The proceeds paid his upkeep.
For this reason, he advised the youth “Don’t see life as a smooth journey but find something prudent to do to help yourself in difficult times.”
After grinding his education to a halt due to financial challenges, he now holds a Degree in Public Administration from GIMPA, a Master’s in International Relations and Diplomacy and Project Management, plus other higher certificates, with more in the offing.
The Police Call
When teaching did not materialise immediately, he moved to stay with his father at Osu, Accra. In 1994, he visited former IGP Nana Owusu-Nsia at Police Headquarters, who told about ongoing police enlistment.
In his head he declined, but outwardly he accepted to try reluctantly. Later, watching TV news and seeing long queues of young people aspiring to join the Police, he was inspired to reconsider.
He went to Berekum for his certificate. Accra enlistment had closed, so he joined the Kumasi exercise. He was selected, passed the exams and went to the Koforidua Police Training School, Galloway. After passing out, he was posted to the Logistics Unit at Police Headquarters.
At Headquarters, a senior officer encouraged young constables to further their education. He took a course in Purchasing and Supply via distance learning from a UK institution. 
Upon completion, the Police administration promoted him from Constable Class One to Chief Inspector, a leap that paved the way for him to enrol at the Police Academy. He graduated as ASP, and the climb to DCOP began.
“The officer corps starts from Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) from the cadet,” he explained. “When you graduate from the Police Academy, you are awarded ASP, and you move to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), that’s when I released album to start my music career professionally.”
From there, he rose to Superintendent of Police (SP), Chief Superintendent, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), and now Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP). Next is Commissioner of Police (COP).
Music found him in Sudan
On peacekeeping duty in Sudan, officers from different nations came together to hold fellowship led by a Nigerian officer. In December that year, with top-ranked officers present, Kofi Sarpong led the service to the admiration of all.
On his return to Ghana, a Colonel, who was a Matron at 37 Military Hospital and a member of the 37 Methodist-Presbyterian Church invited him to their harvest service. He ministered, and as he stepped out of church, a man approached him with an offer to record him. He declined.
Days later, at the office, the man, Ernest Kwesi, who owned Media Excel Production sent an elderly man to pursue him. He still declined. This compelled Ernest Kwesi himself to visit him at the office. “He told me he had seen something in me.”
Just after Ernest Kwesi left,Kofi Sarpong wrote to then Director General/Welfare, Mohammed Alhassan, and Paul Tawiah Quaye the Inspector General of Police (IGP) at the time. “He opened the letter and said he had been waiting all this while because he had seen me perform at police officers’ events.”
He was summoned to the IGP’s office, a call which scared him, however, it was a good news; his request was approved. Against this backdrop, he informed Ernest Kwesi who quickly visited that evening with highlife musician Akwaboah Jnr., who taught him his first song, ‘Me ko nso hw3 mu’, and they went to the studio.
A song earlier recorded in reggae by Zapp Mallet was totally transformed by Nacee, so they released both versions on the album. Nacee, he says, hugely supported promotion, as did Mark Okraku-Mantey.
He also acknowledge Oware Jnr. who also wrote songs for him.
After his maiden album’s success, police leadership congratulated him. He says he is happy to have inspired other officers to write to the Service to pursue other interests.
An autobiography, he reveals, is in the offing.
Family and food
He is married to Mrs Salomey Sarpong with three children, two boys and a girl: Nana Nketiah, Maame Afia Yeboah Sarpong and Papa Kwabena Aseda Sarpong.
His hobbies are watching athletics and being with family. His favourite foods are fufu and konkonte with groundnut soup.
On music, he teased a collaboration with a top Nigerian artiste, promising fans “hot praises” soon.
He concluded by thanking Ghanaians for their support since his promotion, and thanked the Inspector General of Police for his guidance.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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WHEN some of her pupils failed to show up at school, Mary Adotei did not always assume they were absent. Sometimes, she went looking for them.
In the communities where she taught, getting a child into the classroom could require more than preparing lessons. Mrs Adotei remembers occasions when she had to visit the homes of pupils, bathe them, prepare them and bring them to school herself.
“There were times I had to go to the homes of some of the children, bathe them and bring them to school,” she recalled.
It is a memory that captures much of her journey over the years as a teacher, a profession she entered without knowing it would become central to her identity.
Now, after years of working with children and communities, Mrs Adotei is taking lessons from the classroom into a new arena.
She is contesting the position of Women’s Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa (AOB) Constituency in the Central Region, hoping to use her experience working with people to contribute to the welfare of women in the constituency.
But her story begins in the classroom.
After completing her basic and secondary education, Mrs Adotei spent 12 years working as a pupil teacher before she had the opportunity to receive professional training.
In 2006, she entered Fosu College of Education and completed her training in 2011 with a Diploma in Basic Education.
She returned to the classroom and has remained there since, teaching in different communities before moving to her current school, Catholic Boys Basic School in Breman Asikuma, in 2019.
The years have given her a front-row seat to the transformation education can bring.
Some of the children she once taught have grown into professionals, carrying the lessons they learnt in her classroom into hospitals, schools, offices and other workplaces.
Mrs Adotei said she had encountered former pupils who were now doctors, nurses, teachers and even a lawyer.
For a teacher, she said, such moments bring a special kind of satisfaction and reinforce the reason she remains passionate about education.
Her journey, however, has not been without difficult moments.
Teaching in local communities sometimes meant dealing with circumstances that went beyond academic work. Some pupils needed encouragement, personal attention and practical help before they could even settle down to learn.
Those experiences taught her that the challenges confronting people cannot always be solved from a distance. That understanding has followed her into her political activities.
Mrs Adotei has been involved in the NDC for years and previously served as a branch treasurer. She has also supported women in her branch, including assisting some to access medical treatment and providing help to families when the need arose.
She is now making her third attempt at becoming the constituency’s Women’s Organiser.
Her motivation is linked to what she has seen around her.
Mrs Adotei wants women in the constituency to have access to skills and opportunities that can help them become more economically independent.
She believes her years as a teacher have prepared her for the work, too, because the profession has taught her to listen, communicate, understand different circumstances and work patiently with people.
For her, the transition from teacher to political organiser is therefore not a complete departure from the path she has followed.
The classroom taught her to work with individuals. Politics, she hopes, will give her the opportunity to work with a wider group of women.
If elected, Mrs Adotei intends to continue teaching while taking up her political responsibilities. She said she would organise her time to attend meetings and constituency activities without abandoning her duties to her pupils.
Away from school and politics, she is a wife and mother of two sons who are pursuing their degrees at university.
Her message to young girls is shaped by everything she has seen education do for the children she has taught.
For Mrs Adotei, education remains one of the strongest tools available to young people, especially girls seeking to build better futures.
She wants them to stay in school, pursue further education and acquire skills that will prepare them for the future.
“Nowadays, you cannot go forward without education,” she said.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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