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School Feeding Programme ensuring quality, transparency – Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah
With expertise in food production, processing, preservation and packaging, Mrs. Gertrude Esi Quashigah continues to set remarkable standards as one of the torchbearers in the food and beverage industry.
She had contributed her quota and excelled as founder and manager of a successful family business for about two decades and is determined to do more as the leader of the Ghana National School Feeding Programme (GNSFP).
The appointment of Mrs. Quashigah as National Coordinator of the GNSFP in 2017 made her the first female National Coordinator of the programme.
Although the programme which seeks to provide children in public primary schools with one hot meal every school day has recorded some successes, Mrs. Quashigah says she would resolve existing challenges and transform the programme to provide the best to beneficiaries.
In a recent interaction with The Spectator, she touched on aspects of her life and career, indicating a clear plan of maintaining quality and transparency under her leadership.
Background
Mrs. Quashigah is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ambar Quality Foods Limited.
Born February 1, 1960, at Dzelukope in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region, she was married to the late Major Courage E. K. Quashigah, a former Minister of Health and Agriculture in the Kufour administration.
She attended Dzelukope Roman Catholic School before proceeding to Keta Secondary School where she studied Literature in English, Food Science and Nutrition.
Prior to settling on her food production and packaging business, she took up other professional courses in food production and management at different institutions, including the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), Empretec Ghana, Pegados Cakes & Pastries Catering School, among others.
Experience
The 61-year-old is also the Founder and Executive Director of Healthy Living Foundation and once worked with Unilever and Nestle Ghana Limited as a distributor.
She had provided quality catering and auxiliary services at events hosted by private and public institutions in the country. As an advocate of healthy living, she had trained women in the food industry on Effective Management and Hygienic Handling of Food while managing her own business.
These and other track record, she believes, have provided a solid foundation for bringing the needed transformation and innovation to her current position as Head of the School Feeding Programme.
“I believe in managerial ethics and working hard to serve my country with purpose. My vision is to enhance the school feeding programme and I am working hard to continue the legacy of a principled man who had diligently served his country in all aspects of his life,” she noted.
Operations
Touching on some progress and achievements, the National Coordinator said that the GNSFP continued to provide jobs for thousands of caterers and cooks working in over 10,000 basic schools in all 260 districts of the country and was on course to digitise its records and operations.
She said that the institution, in addition to building the capacity of personnel, was collaborating with development partners and stakeholders to ensure more transparency in key target areas.
Mrs. Quashigah admitted that the programme had, over the years, relied on manual payment systems and was, therefore, taking steps to introduce new systems that could “address about 90 per cent of the challenges of the programme.”
“There are huge numbers under the programme hence the need to police the system more effectively to enable the programme to operate satisfactorily within its limited budget,” she stressed and maintained that food, just like medicine, was essential for human survival hence the need to make essential nutrients available in every diet.
She said it was her contribution to create conducive and hygienic spaces for cooks and kitchen staff under the programme, adding that the programme had provided training to caterers on alternative sources of protein such as soya and eggs to improve the quality of food served in schools.
Leadership
Soft-spoken Mrs. Quashigah said her leadership was receptive of constructive criticism, open to new ideas, and would continue to maintain cordial relationship with stakeholders, irrespective of challenges which may arise.
She called for support from individuals, private and corporate bodies and urged the public to continue providing relevant feedback and offer productive ideas.
“The School Feeding programme supports the overall development of children of school going age and it is important that all hands are on deck to help attain the objectives of the programme.
“Our doors are opened and we will continue to work to ensure that school children are well catered for while we provide the needed support for women and introduce a new phase of the programme,” she said.
Recognition
Mrs. Quashigah had received the Ghana Star Award for Packaging Excellence and was recognised by the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs for her women empowerment efforts.
She is the patron of Ghana Chefs Associations and had travelled across the country to promote made in Ghana dishes. She won gold when she led a team of Ghanaian Chefs to Info Chef Competition in South Africa in 2005.
She played a significant role during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Accra, and catered for the Ghana National Supporters Union during the World Cup in South Africa and Brazil in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
Advice
As a staunch Catholic, she listens to gospel music and spends time with her children and grandchildren. She is, therefore, advising young people to continue to acquire knowledge and take up responsibility when duty calls.
By Ernest Nutsugah
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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