Cletus Avoka

Cletus Apul Avoka is a lawyer and one of the National Democratic Congress's (NDC) longest-serving parliamentarians. He served as Majority Leader, Minister for the Interior under President Mills, and Minister for Lands and Forestry under President Rawlings, and he represented seats in the Upper East Region for most of the Fourth Republic, ending with Zebilla in 2025.

Early life and law

Avoka was born in November 1951 and comes from Teshie near Zebilla. He attended Navrongo Secondary School, earned his LLB at the University of Ghana in 1976 and qualified at the Ghana School of Law in 1978.

Rawlings and Mills governments

He represented Bawku West from the start of the Fourth Republic until 2005 and served under Rawlings as Minister for Lands and Forestry. In 2008 he returned to Parliament as MP for the new Zebilla constituency. Under President Mills he was Minister for the Interior until January 2010 and led government business in Parliament as Majority Leader, until Benjamin Kunbuor took over after the 2012 election.

He is a Catholic, married with four children. Ebenezer Alumire Ndebilla of the NDC succeeded him as MP for Zebilla in 2025.