Profile
Face behind Ghana’s “Akwaaba” portrait shares her story
Something which started as a usual photo shoot for a portrait to be placed in the hall of their room and her album, surprisingly ended up becoming a ‘national project’.
Interestingly, the photograph meant for her private use rather became a national symbol of welcoming guests to Ghana, and some countries abroad.
To her surprise, it ended up at various places being used on calendars, bags, dresses, gift items, among other artefacts.
Ms. Angelina Nana Akua Oduro, now 39, took the iconic photograph in 1999 at age 18, but because it was not copyrighted, she does not receive any royalties from the commercialisation of her image.
She shares her story with The Spectator newspaper.
Family
Ms. Angelina Nana Akua Oduro whose parents hail from Obo Kwahu and Akyem Pramkese in the Eastern Region was born at North Kaneshie Dans Bar, affectionately referred to as Ga-Mantse in Accra.
Her parents are Mr. Daniel Oduro a contractor, and Madam Janet Oduro, anad was born into a family of seven for which she is the penultimate last but one born of the four women and three men.
She was once married with two kids but divorced along the way
Education
Ms Angelina Oduro commenced her educational journey at St. Monica’s at Awudome in Accra for her basic education and continued to a government school at Awudome Two Junior High School.
Her dream to further her education at Okuapeman Senior High School in the Eastern Region was dashed due to financial problems at home, but this notwithstanding, his brother suggested a fashion school to her.
With to her love for fashion, Angelina heeded to the advice and was enrolled into a fashion school, Fashion Africa, at Swanlake by her elder brother, where she studied Modelling, Fashion Design and Embroidery.
After the school she did her attachment at Tetteh Praha Designs, where the interest in fashion grew stronger.
Akwaaba Photo
Touching on the genesis of the Akwaaba photo, she said, at Tetteh Praha, they attended fashion shows, did TV commercials and this kept replaying in her head after school.
This pushed her not to renege on all the beautiful things she learnt from the fashion school.
“My mother used to send me to buy Kenkey for her and there was this photograph of a lady pouring palm wine leaning on a wall at a drinking bar around our house, due to my fashion background, I appreciated it and wanted to take a similar one,” she revealed.
According to here, she shared the story with a photographer friend who later linked her to another photographer, by name Mr.Joe Osae.
“We then went to Makola, and other places where necklaces, bangles, cloths and pots among others were sold to facilitate the photo shoot. Afterwards we went to Mr.Joe Osae at Ceejay multimedia at Lapaz,” she said.
She stated that, they took some of the photos at the studio, Osu, the beach and later selected the best ones
“The intention was to fill my album and hang it in our rooms but later other people started showing interest, so Mr.Osae told me and started selling it, and at times gave me some proceeds, even though it was not on a large scale,” Ms. Oduro stressed.
Suddenly, it was everywhere, the photograph was circulating which was something her father was not happy about considering the spiritual implication which could follow .
However, her father was later convinced about the positives for which he understood.
“There were times some friends who have travelled would inform me about where they have found my portrait, which made me excited. If I look back I feel I have marketed Ghana with my image,” she noted.
Future
Talking about the future plans, she said “we are coming out with a documentary of my life, a clothing line and some cartoon filled with our cultural values to inculcate in the children at a tender age, because I love children.”
Ms.Angelina Oduro has called on well wishers to sponsor her to achieve these goals.
“I do fascinators, makeups and used to train models,” she added.
She has further called on authorities to recognise her contribution in marketing the country,
“Some people even thought I was dead or it was some painting, I would be glad if I am given an ambassadorial role to properly sell Ghana,” she suggested.
Ms. Oduro has appealed to Ghanaians to patronise made in Ghana products because through that, a lot of employment would be created to improve the per capita income of the citizens and boost the economy as well.
She thanked Mr. Osae, the photographer, for making her dreams come to pass.
Ms. Angelina Oduro fellowships with Love Community Chapel International at Ogre Road, in Accra,
Hobbies and favourite food
She loves to watch documentaries and cartoons and her favourite food is Kenkey with fried fish.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
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
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
