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Meet Korkor & Jerry: The developers working to solve teacher absenteeism
Software and application development is one of the fast growing areas in the technology industry and more young people continue to bring out the creativity in them in this regard.
Last weekend, about 30 trainees who had acquired skills in software development converged in Accra to showcase mobile and web applications they had designed to tackle specific issues across different sectors.
Some of the applications demonstrated included: ‘Alodie’ an application that allows people to send money into mobile money accounts without using USSD codes; ‘FundFair’ which connects low income earners to donors to allow them pay off medical debt; ‘Sparky’— a platform that connects start-ups to investors; ‘Go Legal’ — designed to connect clients to lawyers, and many other applications which are not yet available to the public.
Another which could be of immense benefit to stakeholders in the education sector, is a mobile application intended to solve teacher absenteeism. The developers, Korkor Mensah and Jerry Gasu, spoke about their inspiration for the project and the prospect of the innovation they were looking forward to implementing fully.
Application
The partners in an interview with The Spectator said they took up the initiative because “the absence of teachers tends to negatively impact teaching and learning in schools.”
“Teacher absenteeism affects the confidence of parents and leads to low turnout of students so we decided to build an application that does a real time tracking of the teacher’s presence or absence,” the duo noted.
The application, according to the developers, “allows a teaching staff to scan a Quick Response (QR) code with his or her mobile phone and logs in with identification (ID) which has already been generated for him or her.
“After the teacher successfully logs in, he is automatically seen on a dashboard that is monitored by the administration of the school. The application then records the number of teachers who reported on time, those who reported late as well as those who did not show up at all,” they explained.
Collaboration
Ms Mensah is a Quality Assurance Test Analyst at Ecobank. In her role, she ensures that mobile and web applications and systems “are tested to ensure they are fit for purpose or do not have any defects.”
She had enrolled her two children at Codetrain, a Ghanaian tech company that trains individuals to become software developers, but was compelled to eventually take up the course and acquire the skills herself.
Jerry, on the other hand, started teaching himself how to code at home but realised there was more to learn beyond the self-taught approach he had adopted and, therefore, signed up to the structured courses that were being offered by the institution.
It was during the one-year intensive training at Codetrain that they both decided to work together on the teacher absenteeism application which they hope to fine-tune and make available to schools across the country.
“This is a demo and we have not rolled it out on full scale. We are open to other ideas and collaboration because this [application] solves a social problem. Our hope is to be able to roll out to schools in Ghana and possibly across Africa.
“If teachers are absenting themselves from classes then we will never get the quality education we want to give our children so this application is going to solve a challenge in the education system and we hope to partner other organisations to make this a reality,” Ms Mensah said.
Beyond Codetrain, Jerry intends to start his own business and continue to solve “real world problems” with his expertise.
Insight
The partners admitted that there were other applications that dealt with absenteeism but this did not stop them from coming up with their own innovation or solution.
“We know other well-established organisations have applications they use internally to track attendance of staff but in our research we do not think teachers are scanning QR codes to log in their attendance; they still make use of a notebook or a register.
“There are other applications solving the same problem but there is never a single solution to a problem. We decided to focus on the educational sector because we know ours will be unique,” Ms Mensah stated.
She was one of the few females among the graduating cohort. She said her aim of becoming a Quality Assurance Engineer in future would require programming skills hence the decision to join the course at Codetrain which she described as insightful.
“I work closely with application developers; the developers make the application, then my role is to test it. So I believe the skills I have now would help me to become a good Test Analyst.
“A year ago, I did not know how to code, I could not write a single line of code. My 10-year-old son brought a coding assignment home and I could not help him. I was really embarrassed and felt I had let my son down so weeks later I enrolled at Codetrain and a year down the line, the journey has been rewarding,” Ms Mensah recounted.
The developers encouraged individuals to sharpen their technology skills and explore the opportunities as well as solutions they could provide within the sector.
Ms Mensah advised young women to aspire to fill the existing gap in the technology industry while Jerry also urged aspiring software developers to be patient and remain focused because their efforts would eventually yield results.
For Ms Fafa Gozo, being alive is a blessing she no longer takes for granted. Having faced breast cancer and endured the challenges of treatment, she has learnt to appreciate life differently, embrace change and find strength in an experience she once feared would end her life.
“If you ask me how to describe my life today, I would say well, because I am alive,” she said.
Although her life is no longer the same as it was before her diagnosis, she is grateful for the opportunity to live and make the most of each day.
Before breast cancer, Ms Gozo described herself as a happy woman who balanced her responsibilities as a mother, wife and career woman. However, her life changed when she discovered a lump in her breast while breastfeeding her youngest child.
She sought medical attention, and further examinations led to a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. The news was difficult to accept, particularly as she had a young child and family responsibilities to consider.
Chemotherapy began almost immediately. The treatment weakened her body, and she had to return to the hospital for further care.
Beyond medication, she needed emotional strength to cope with the physical and psychological demands of the experience. Nevertheless, she continued with treatment, drawing strength from her faith and determination to live.
May 2022 marked the end of her chemotherapy, bringing relief after months of treatment. In June, she began another phase of her journey, focusing on recovery and rebuilding her life.
Healing was gradual, requiring physical and emotional adjustments. Just when she thought the worst was over, another health concern arose; bringing renewed anxiety and the need for further medical attention.
The experience taught her that recovery does not always follow a straight path. It requires patience, courage and the willingness to face uncertainty.
Despite the difficulties, Ms Gozo has chosen to embrace the woman she has become rather than dwell on what she has lost.
“The old Fafa is gone, but I am loving the new Fafa. I appreciate the new Fafa more and take life easy because now I know life is very short and very vulnerable. Everyone is at risk,” she said. Read More.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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From Doryumu to two Bars: The remarkable journey of Lawyer Nyarkotey Obu
From the quiet communities of Doryumu and Dodowa in the Shai-Osudoku area of Greater Accra to courtrooms in two West African countries, Lawyer Raphael Nyarkotey Obu’s story is one of unusual professional reinvention. 
On Friday, October 9, 2026, the naturopathic scholar was called to the Ghana Bar, following his earlier admission to the Bar in The Gambia in November 2024.
The milestone places him in a pioneering position. He has been reported as the first African naturopath to qualify as a lawyer in two West African countries—an achievement that combines natural medicine, academic leadership and legal training in a way rarely seen on the continent.
Beyond the ceremonial wig and gown, however, lies a larger question: how will he use the law to improve the regulation of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) in Africa?
The early journey
Nyarkotey traces his roots to Doryumu in the Shai-Osudoku district. Part of his childhood was spent with his grandmother in the Suhum-Amrahia area, before his family journey took him to Teshie Lascala, where he began his basic education.
He later attended Ghanata Secondary School, Dodowa. These formative experiences preceded a career that would take him from classrooms in Ghana to professional legal training in Banjul and clinical and academic engagements in Asia.
Those beginnings matter because his achievements did not emerge from a single, straightforward professional path. He first built a name in Ghana’s developing natural medicine sector as an educator, researcher, author and advocate for stronger standards.
Education and difficult questions
That conviction informed the establishment and development of Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine in Ashaiman. The institution pursued structured professional education and competency-based training, including work connected to national occupational standards for naturopathy and holistic medicine.
Yet its growth brought the challenge familiar to emerging health professions: educational ambitions can advance faster than the laws governing those who complete the training.
The College faced questions within Ghana’s tertiary education regulatory environment, while Nyarkotey also became involved in a public dispute with the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC).
At the centre was disagreement over the reach of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act, 2000 (Act 575), and its application to naturopathy and other complementary and alternative medicine disciplines. The dispute entered the courts, where the interpretation of statutory authority remains a matter for legal determination.
Why he studied law
It was against this backdrop that law became increasingly central to his work. After obtaining his law degree, Nyarkotey proceeded to the Gambia Law School and was called to the Gambian Bar in November 2024. He subsequently completed the route to admission in Ghana, culminating in the October 2026 ceremony. The second Bar call gives his professional story an especially Ghanaian significance: the legal questions that shaped his ambitions can now be addressed with the benefit of Ghanaian legal qualification.
The distinction is noteworthy, but he regards it as a means rather than an end. His interest is not simply in representing individual practitioners. He wants to contribute to laws that separate legitimate professional training from unsupported claims, define safe scopes of practice, provide fair disciplinary processes and protect patients. The objective, he argues, should be regulation that is firm, clear and suitable for Africa’s diverse healthcare landscape.
India and a wider horizon
In August 2026, Nyarkotey led 16 Ghanaian naturopaths to India for clinical immersion at Arujiva Ayurveda and Naturopathy Hospital in Karnataka. Their exposure included Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, nutrition and lifestyle-based care.
Subsequent interactions with Indian universities and professional institutions widened the educational exchange. For him, the visit offered a practical view of how training, research, hospitals and public policy can interact within established traditional medicine systems.
India also supplied a lesson in patience. Nyarkotey recalls being told by an Indian colleague that gaining recognition for an educational institution can involve years of persistence. He drew from that conversation a renewed commitment to documentation, programme quality, clinical preparation and continued regulatory engagement. 
QAI partnership and standards
A recent development is the College’s Memorandum of Understanding with India’s Quality and Accreditation Institute (QAI). The partnership is intended to support quality assurance, curriculum improvement and professional development across naturopathy and related complementary medicine disciplines. It marks a shift from pursuing recognition principally through advocacy towards building systems that can be independently assessed.
For Nyarkotey, the agreement offers a platform for developing that quality culture while respecting the jurisdiction of Ghana’s own educational and professional regulators.
An African professional agenda
His thinking has also become continental. In March 2026, representatives associated with naturopathy from 11 African countries established the African Naturopathic Federation, with Nyarkotey as founding president.
The Federation seeks to advance professional education, research, ethics and cooperation. Its potential lies in helping African countries discuss common training benchmarks while allowing each country’s laws, institutions and healthcare needs to shape implementation.
Nyarkotey is additionally promoting an India–Africa AYUSH Centre for Education, Research and Regulatory Cooperation. The proposed platform would connect African institutions and policymakers with Indian expertise, not only in training and clinical exposure but also in standards, research and responsible investment.
He believes African traditional knowledge and India’s institutional experience can form a productive partnership without either being treated as a substitute for scientific scrutiny or patient safety.
A law firm with a specialised mission
Perhaps his most distinctive future plan is a law firm devoted substantially to TCAM and healthcare regulation. He envisages advising governments, professional bodies, colleges, hospitals, clinics and businesses on legislation, registration, licensing, contracts, institutional compliance, patient rights and professional accountability.
He also hopes to assist African countries seeking to draft or modernise legal frameworks for traditional, complementary and alternative medicine.
That ambition follows naturally from his own encounters with overlapping institutions and contested regulatory mandates. More coherent frameworks could clarify which authority regulates practitioners, which oversees academic qualifications and which controls medicinal products.
Such separation would help protect the public while creating lawful pathways for properly trained professionals. Any reform, however, will require consultation with health authorities, patients, conventional medical professionals and complementary medicine stakeholders.
An achievement and a responsibility
Nyarkotey’s story is not free of controversy. His positions on regulation have attracted criticism, and his institution has faced scrutiny. A balanced assessment must recognise those disputes without allowing them to erase the work he has undertaken.
Nor should international partnerships, professorial titles or two Bar calls be mistaken for proof that every proposal is sound. His legacy will depend on the standards he helps establish and the results they produce.
From Doryumu, Dodowa, Suhum-Amrahia and Teshie Lascala to Ghanata Secondary School, Banjul, India and the Ghana Bar, the arc of his journey is striking.
Yet its next chapter may matter more than its earlier honours. If his legal training helps African countries adopt workable TCAM legislation, if his educational partnerships deliver measurable quality, and if his proposed specialist practice contributes to patient protection, the impact will extend far beyond one individual.
The first African naturopath to have qualified as a lawyer in two West African countries now faces a larger professional assignment: turning a remarkable personal achievement into durable legal and educational progress for natural medicine across Africa.
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