Profile
Trailblazer: The woman who found purpose in her roots
“We are always told what it is that we can’t do, but we must not allow the limitations placed on us to define who we are as women”- Mrs Lynn Osei-Bonsu
For many children raised in diplomatic homes, the world becomes a familiar territory where they easily get accustomed to. Countries change, schools change, friends change and home itself becomes fluid like a traversing stream.
However, for Mrs Lynn Osei Bonsu, one of Ghana’s foremost female communications strategist and philanthropist, life’s most defining lesson would come not from the polished streets of New York, where she spent part of her childhood, but from the quiet town of Jirapa in the Upper West Region.
Today, she leads uNuru Communications Group, a strategic communications firm delivering not just for its clients, but also helping in shaping the brand Ghana.
She also heads Trailblazers, a non-profit organisation committed to supporting women and children.
Yet behind the polished corporate image is a deeply human story of identity, sacrifice, resilience and purpose.
A childhood between worlds
Born to Mr Hilary K. Ziniel, a diplomat father and Mrs Rose Ziniel a teacher mother, from Goziir in the Nandom District of the Upper West Region, she spent much of her early life outside Ghana due to her father’s regular postings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“My first memories are not growing up in Ghana,” she told The Spectator with utmost fondness.
But while her childhood stretched across countries and cultures, her father remained determined that his children would never lose sight of where they came from, as result when the family returned to Ghana after his postings in New York, he made a decision about Lynn’s education that initially devastated her.
Instead of enrolling her in one of the prestigious schools in Accra, he sent her to St. Francis Girls’ Senior High School in Jirapa. “He said I needed to know where I came from,” she recalls.
Harsh transition
Moving from New York to Ghana and immediately being dispatched to Jirapa for her secondary education came with what she describes as a “huge culture shock.”
There was limited electricity, no running water and a pace of life completely different from anything she had known. “At the time, I thought he was punishing me,” she says with a laugh.
Years later, however, that painful transition would become one of the greatest gifts of her life. “If my father were alive today, I would thank him every single day for that decision,” she says quietly.
The experience, she explains, grounded her. It taught her humility, resilience and gratitude. More importantly, it gave her a deeper appreciation of sacrifice.
“It gave me a different outlook on life and a greater appreciation for my parents and everything they did for us.”
After secondary school and sixth form education, she gained admission to Carleton University in Canada. At the time, studying abroad was considered a major achievement for many Ghanaian families, especially for children from internationally exposed homes. But once again, her father encouraged her to think beyond prestige.
“He told me that if I wanted to live and work in Ghana, then I needed to build my network here,” she says.
Shelving dream of becoming a diplomat
After her first degree, she dreamed of joining Ghana’s Foreign Service and had even written the Public Services Commission examination. Then, unexpectedly, her path changed.
While awaiting for the results from the Public Services Commission, she came across an advertisement in the Daily Graphic announcing admissions into the School of Communication Studies. “It just jumped at me,” she recalls.
She applied and was admitted into the postgraduate communication programme — a decision that would eventually shape the rest of her career. Around the same time, she also came to an important personal realisation.
“Being a foreign service child meant moving every four years,” she says. “I realised I actually wanted stability. I wanted roots.” It was a powerful discovery for someone who had spent most of her life constantly moving.
Building a career, rebuilding self
Her professional journey began in 1999 at Japan Motors where she worked as a Public Relations Officer. Four years later, she moved to Societe Generale Bank following the bank’s acquisition of SSB Bank.
Again, after four years, she joined GTBank Ghanaghana.gtbank.com as Head of Corporate Affairs. Looking back, she now finds humour in the pattern. “It was much later that I realised it reflected how often we moved during my father’s diplomatic postings,” she explains.
Eventually, motherhood changed her priorities and she decided to leave corporate life behind to focus more on family and pursue entrepreneurship.
The decision initially frightened her. Walking away from the security of a monthly salary into the uncertainty of business was not easy. But with savings, planning and the support of her husband, she took the leap.
“He has been very supportive emotionally, financially and professionally,” she says.
In 2010, she established her own communications and advertising agency. The early years tested her patience and resilience. “It wasn’t easy because nobody really knew us at the beginning,” she says.
Her first breakthrough came when Koala Super Market gave her company an opportunity. From there, the business gradually expanded through referrals, relationships and consistency. Over the years, the company weathered economic downturns and survived the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve had ups and downs, but by God’s grace, we are still standing,” she says.
Trailblazer is birthed
Even while building her business, one thing remained constant; her desire to help others. Mrs Osei-Bonsu traces that instinct directly to her father. “My father was very big on education and helping females in particular,” she says.
For years, she quietly supported people through payment of school fees and personal assistance. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, after volunteering with several organisations, she felt compelled to formalise her efforts.
This decision she explained led to the birth of Trailblazers in 2020. The organisation focuses on supporting women and children through education, skills development and empowerment initiatives. It has worked with schools, orphanages and vulnerable women, while also supporting organisations such as Street Girls Aid.
For her, philanthropy is not charity. It is responsibility even though she admits the work comes with challenges. “One of the biggest difficulties is funding,” she explains. “Many organisations are all trying to access limited resources.”
Yet despite the obstacles, she remains deeply committed to the mission and this is because for her, success was not measured only by titles or professional accomplishments, but by impact.
Coming full circle
Today, she looks back on her journey with gratitude.
The young girl who once arrived in Jirapa angry, uncomfortable and homesick now understands that those difficult years shaped the woman she would become.
Her story is ultimately one of rediscovery — a journey back to identity, purpose and service. “I now understand why my father insisted so much on where we came from,” she says.
And perhaps that is the most powerful lesson of all: sometimes the roots we resist the most are the very ones that anchor our lives.
By Cliff Ekuful
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
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.
Buy Maps
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
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.
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.
Buy Maps
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
