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Rev. Prof. Dorothy BEA Akoto, first female Vice President of Trinity Theological Seminary
Reverend Professor Dorothy BEA Akoto and her husband Reverend Dr. Johnny Yao Akoto.
After over its 80 years of existence, the Trinity Theological Seminary ((TTS) located in Legon in the Greater Accra Region, had its first female Vice President from 2020- 23.
It was a typical example of women breaking the glass ceiling all over the world with Reverend Professor Dorothy BEA Akoto adding up to the number of trailblazers globally. She served for three years in this enviable yet challenging position.
Interestingly, this is a lady who was touted a ‘failure’ and was shunned by many until her rise to the rank of Professor, in TTS, Legon.
Born at Akuse in the Eastern Region to a former Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG), Very Reverend Andrew Kwami Abutiate and Mrs Josephine Afi Wosordoe Adonu Attipoe Abutiate both of blessed memory from Avatime, Biakpa and Anyarko/ Asadame respectively, both in the Volta Region , she has always been determined to make a difference wherever she finds herself with faith in the Lord.
Speaking to The Spectator, Rev. Prof. Akoto the Immediate Past Vice President for the TTS said, it is always good to be the first to do something.
Rev. Prof. Akoto was also the first female Professor Reverend Minister of the EPCG and also the first female to operate a Massey Fergusson Tractor in Ghana in 1973-1975 while she was a student of the Mawuli School, Ho from 1969-1977 – a feat that was featured in Student World Magazine at the time and interviewed on Radio Ghana and on national television.
She is currently a Lecturer in Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Biblical Hebrew Language and Gender Studies at the TTS. She is also the District Pastor of the Adenta District of the EPCG.
She recalled her journey had not been an easy one but ‘with God on my side, through prayer and family’s encouragement’, she has become a woman many are proud of.
One of her challenges was when she practically became an object of disappointment when she married at the age of 22 and had a son after the Upper Sixth form at a time when many classmates, family members, teachers, friends and well-wishers expected her to attend university especially having been on national television and excelling academically.
“Some condemned and labelled me a drop-out. When my son was seven months, my husband and I agreed that I entered the university and after that, I became an English teacher and at a point was national trainer of teachers in Primary, Middle, JSS, Secondary school and Teacher Training College in Ghana,” she disclosed.
Determined to achieve greater heights, she continued schooling and had three other children within the period.
The Reverend Minister described that period of her life as a time of fulfilment as “many who saw me as a failure, often advise their own daughters to follow my example.”
She had her basic education in various E.P Primary Schools in various places due to the nature of her father’s itinerant Pastoral Ministry and her mother, a Home Economics Teacher namely with E.P Primary School in Akpafu, Todzi.
She also went to the Ho International School, SNAPS Kindergarten School in Accra, John F. K Memorial Preparatory School, Accra, St. John’s Preparatory School on Mile Seven, Nsawam Road.
She proceeded to the Mawuli School, in the Volta Region for the General Certificate Examination- GCE ‘O’ Level and GCE ‘A’ Level and then to the Cape Coast University Institute of Education ATTC, Winneba, where she graduated with a Diploma in English.
The Immediate Past Vice President for the TTS also attended the Johnson C. Smith Seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center (JCSS of ITC), USA and graduated with a Dual Degree, Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master of Arts in Christian Education (MACE), and to the Emory University Candler School of Theology (EU, CST) for a Master of Theology (ThM).
She further went to the Union-Presbyterian School of Christian Education (UNION-PSCE), also in the USA where she graduated with a Master of Theology (ThM).
Determined to add more value to herself, she proceeded to the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS), and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Hebrew Bible, Culture and Hermeneutics.
She is married to Reverend Dr. Johnny Yao Akoto, a retired Reverend Minister of the E.P Church, Ghana and Retired Reverend Minister of the Norvisi-Friendship Presbyterian Church in the USA.
They have four biological children, several other children and four grandchildren.
She advises the youth to make the fear of God their priority, always read the Bible and pray in order to make their ways pure.
“They should also eschew pride, envy, animosity, dishonesty, get-rich-quick syndrome, emigration for greener pastures, laziness and peer pressure to commit immoral acts.”
She also advised women who marry early to continue to pursue their dreams.
Reverend Professor Akoto is also an author and some of her books include, ‘Lord, Teach Us to Pray,’ ‘Proverbs and the African Tree of Life,’ ‘Grafting Proverbs 25-29 onto Ewe Proverbs,’ and ‘African Theology/ies.’
She also published numerous articles in Books, Journals and Academic Resources in various parts of Africa, Asia, USA and Europe.
A few of her articles are “The Mother and First Born Daughter of the Ewe People as a Good Shepherd,” “Women and Health and the Trokosi Practice,” “An Issue of Women’s and Children’s Health” and “Marriage in the Bible and the Traditional Kusakorkor Marriage Ceremony among the Avatime People of Central Volta.”
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Tema
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
More more more
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
