Dr Ekua Amoakoh, spokesperson for New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and member of the party’s Health Committee, gave up a career path in maxillofacial surgery to pursue politics earlier than expected.
Amoakoh told JoyNews’ PM Express with Emefa Adeti that she had wanted to specialise in head and neck surgery, specifically maxillofacial surgery, since her first year of medical school. She spent a year at Ridge Hospital working toward this goal. “That’s what I was doing at Ridge for the whole year. It’s very niche. So that’s what I was doing, and I think I was very interested in it, and I knew even from my first year in medical school that’s exactly what I wanted to do,” she said.
Her ambition included treating children born with cleft palates. “I always thought I would end up being one of those nice cleft doctors, you know, fixing kids’ clefts. I always thought I would be a good doctor,” Amoakoh said.
However, her political involvement started earlier than anticipated, forcing her to turn down job opportunities in medicine. “No, maybe some job opportunities, yes. So some job opportunities I could not take. I had to make a decision. But for me, I don’t really see it as a loss. I think they are sacrifices,” she said.
Amoakoh described her medical career as having been interrupted by politics rather than a loss of interest in medicine. “If anything, maybe that has been the highest price I’ve had to pay, because I always thought I would be able to get to the end of that before I started. But politics kicked off for me earlier than I expected,” she said.
When asked if she now loved politics more than medicine, Amoakoh said yes. “Yes, yes, yes. It comes to me naturally, and I don’t find it really difficult. You know, they say that you find something that you’re good at or something that you love, and you don’t feel like you’re working,” she said.
Her current workload has increased. “My schedule has gotten way crazier. But it’s not too much for me because I’m doing things I find interesting. The reading that I’m doing is reading that I would have done anyway,” she added.
Amoakoh’s shift came as her political career accelerated, leading her to become one of the public faces of the NPP’s health policy team during the 2024 election season. Her medical background places her among a small group of health professionals engaged in Ghanaian politics, balancing clinical expertise with political communication.
Her experience at Ridge Hospital and early medical training remain part of her personal story, even as she focuses on political strategy and public messaging for the NPP.
According to Joy Online.
