Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko confirmed as executive director of Danquah Institute

The governing board of the Danquah Institute (DI) has confirmed the appointment of Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, a research fellow and lecturer at the University of Ghana, as the institute’s executive director.

Dr Tsiboe-Darko, who replaces Richard Ahiagbah, is the first woman to lead the think tank, which was established in 2007. She was confirmed by the governing board on 4 October 2021.

Her mandate is to lead the institute by promoting the ideology of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition, fostering responsible and responsive governance, and espousing the virtues of economic freedom, individual liberty and responsibilities in a progressive society of opportunity for all.

She will also be expected to undertake important research, policy advocacy and training and to position the institute firmly in the promotion of a single market in Africa.

Next generation

A key task of the new executive director is to seek out and actively mentor the next generation of leaders. DI has been a rich breeding ground for young leaders of the NPP, including pioneering figures such as Nana Asante Bediatuo, Saratu Atta, Samuel Abu Jinapor, Mustapha Abdul Hamid, Sophia Korkor, Eugene Arhin, Herbert Krapa, Stephen Amoah, Frank Annoh Dompreh, Ambassador Mike Oquaye Jr and many more.

In a tweet, Gabby Otchere-Darko, the senior partner and co-founder of Africa Legal Associates, who is himself a former executive director of DI, congratulated Dr Tsiboe-Darko on her confirmation as the substantive executive director of the institute.

“We are expecting some big, impactful things over the next couple of years,” Otchere- Darko said in his tweet.

Collaboration

The institute, which, by a decision of the National Council of the New Patriotic Party, is responsible for training, research and policy initiatives for the party, is expected to enjoy greater collaboration with the secretariat of the NPP.

Dr Tsiboe-Darko, a social development analyst, worked very closely with John Boadu, the NPP general secretary, on the 2020 general election.

“It is a collaboration between party and think tank which we hope to firm up under Annie’s leadership,” said Professor Mike Oquaye, the chairman of the governing board of DI.

Profile of Dr Tsiboe-Darko

Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko lectures in social and public policy at graduate level at the University of Ghana. She has carried out research work in natural resource management, child marriage, gender and agriculture, social protection, decentralisation, volunteering and philanthropy, among other areas.

She has over ten years of experience in providing expert consultancy services in social development, natural resource management and social interventions in communities endowed with natural resources.

In civil society, she has worked with organisations such as the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research, STAR Ghana Foundation, UNICEF and World Vision Ghana, focusing on training programmes, facilitation of stakeholder dialogues, grant evaluation and community research projects.

In 2016 and 2020, she researched social development challenges and their influence on voter choice in Ghana. She was a key member of the NPP’s communications strategy team for the 2020 election, under the leadership of Oboshie Sai Cofie.

Dr Tsiboe-Darko serves on several boards in Ghana, including the advisory board of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Heritage and Culture Society of Africa and the Volunteer Infrastructure National Planning Committee.

Fantastic choice

Dr Tsiboe-Darko is a Christian and is married with four children. She loves to write, read, dance and listen to music.

“I’m excited by Annie’s appointment,” says Elizabeth Ohene, a member of the governing board. “She is a fantastic researcher and communicator and, even more importantly for me, she is determined to help guide the youth from following political parties for direct material gain to … ideological loyalty, a loyalty based on principles and shared beliefs on how our society must be governed and function.”

Danquah Institute

The Danquah Institute regards itself as guardians and ambassadors of the political and economic thought known as liberalism and how its promotion must benefit Africa and the African as members of the greater global community.

DI seeks through its work to advance Danquah’s beliefs in individual freedom, rule of law, multiparty democracy, liberal economics and equality of opportunity and ensure they inform the actions of the democratically elected Government of Ghana and governments of other African states.

Through the examination, evaluation, publication and promotion of alternative and novel policy approaches based on these principles, together with a critical analysis of existing political prescriptions, DI aims to improve the quality of the decision-making process and the efficaciousness of social, political and economic policies in Ghana and other African states.

The Institute’s intention is to make a courageous, imaginative, constructive and coordinated contribution to nation-building and Africa’s development in general, with the purpose of enhancing the life of every individual citizen and, through this, the development of the Ghanaian, Ghana, the African and Africa.

Danquah Institute actively seek to promote its ideas, principles, values and ideals within Ghana and the African continent. In subscribing diligently, explicitly and conscientiously to those values of democracy, rule of law, human rights, free movements of people, ideas, cultures, knowledge, technology, goods and services, the institute can strengthen the building up of the power of Africa as an economic and peaceful, self-disciplined and cooperative community of opportunities and individual liberties, a force of reason and initiative to be reckoned with and emulated in the global arena.

DI aims to achieve this through public advocacy of the ideas and philosophy of J B Danquah, particularly among Ghana’s youth, as well as research into governance, the economy and the media.

It also undertakes publication of research papers, seminar proceedings and a periodic journal, the DI Quarterly, organises events to provide a forum to debate and evaluate policy prescriptions, and networks with like-minded think tanks and groups across the African continent.

Wilberforce Asare

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