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Dr Penelope Adinku: First Ghanaian female heart surgeon
For Dr Penelope Adinku, becoming Ghana’s first female cardiothoracic surgeon was never part of her childhood plans. As a young girl, she was more interested in books and once dreamed of becoming an author of children’s books.
Reserved, bookish and competitive, she loved reading Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, The Famous Five and The Babysitters Club. She also enjoyed dancing, while church gradually became an important part of her life.
Medicine became an option through her family. Her father, Mr Ambrose Tettey, is a pharmacist and her mother is a teacher. Her immediate older sister entered medical school before her, and watching her journey, together with the encouragement of her parents, eventually influenced Dr Adinku to pursue medicine.
Her earliest memories of hospitals were, interestingly, linked to recovery. Whenever she was admitted as a child, her parents knew she was improving when she would tell her father, “Daddy, I can spell…”
She eventually discovered her passion for surgery during her final year of medical school. While rotating through the Department of Surgery, she watched surgeons treat patients and realised that she wanted to become one.
Her interest in cardiothoracic surgery grew during her housemanship in paediatrics, where she encountered children with congenital heart disease. She developed a desire to help such children, drawing her towards the highly specialised field.
The decision was not without resistance. Some health professionals discouraged her because of the demanding nature of cardiothoracic surgery. Her family, however, encouraged her to continue. “They had more faith in me than I had in myself at the time,” she recalls.
What attracted her most was the challenge and the opportunity to intervene when vital organs such as the heart and lungs are compromised. For her, it was the privilege of using her God-given ability to give someone a chance at a healthier and longer life.
Her journey was shaped by navigating a specialty that has traditionally been male-dominated. She learnt to focus on her work, build trust and let her results speak for themselves.
During her clinical fellowship in Egypt, encouraging consultants gave her opportunities to participate in major cases. The experience strengthened her confidence and helped her realise that she could thrive in the specialty.
She successfully completed her Fellowship training with the West African College of Surgeons and was adjudged the best candidate in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the 2022 Fellowship Examinations, becoming the first Ghanaian female cardiothoracic surgeon.
For Dr Adinku, the achievement is more than a title. She hopes her story will inspire young Ghanaian girls and women to pursue careers that may appear unconventional.
“If a young girl sees my story and thinks she can pursue her own dream too,’ then that is deeply meaningful to me,” she says.
Her work extends beyond surgery. She is involved in research, medical education, mentorship and professional leadership. She is a member of the Ghanaian Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons and serves as its Treasurer.
Her achievements have earned her the IAP Young Physician Leader Award, the Young Star Award and the Valerie Rusch Mentored Career Development Award from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.
For her, standing before a patient whose life depends on surgery brings a profound sense of responsibility. She remains focused and humble, recognising that behind every patient is a family hoping for a safe outcome. Her faith helps her trust God with what remains beyond her control.
When an operation does not have the desired outcome, she acknowledges the disappointment, reflects on what happened and discusses difficult cases with senior colleagues and her team. She then moves forward, committed to giving the next patient the same level of care.
Balancing such a demanding career with family life has not always been easy. Dr Adinku credits her supportive family and friends for helping her through the journey. Outside the hospital, she makes time for family, faith, church and activities that keep her grounded.
She is particularly grateful to her husband, Rev. Ernest Adinku; her parents, Mr and Mrs Ambrose Tettey; her sisters Gertrude, Grace-Imelda and Audrey-Jacqueline and their families; her mentors, close friends, the Wesley Girls High School Sisterhood, past and present directors of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, and colleagues who have supported her.
She urged young girls to believe in themselves, work hard, learn, ask questions and keep improving.
“There will be people who doubt you, and there may also be times when you doubt yourself,” she says. “Don’t disqualify yourself before you have even had the chance to try. You may be capable of far more than you currently believe.”
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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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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