Elizabeth Ohene

When Elizabeth Ohene took charge of the Daily Graphic in 1979, no woman anywhere in Africa had edited a major national daily before her. Her editorials questioning Jerry Rawlings' rule soon forced her into exile, and she spent the next 19 years in London.

Early life

She was born in Ho on 24 January 1945 and attended Mawuli School. She graduated in English from the University of Ghana in 1967, took a mass communication certificate at Indiana University and was a press fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge, in 1983.

Exile and the BBC

In London she and two fellow exiles founded Talking Drums, a weekly magazine that documented human rights abuses in Ghana. She later joined the BBC World Service, working on the award-winning Focus on Africa team and rising to a senior editing post running the African Service's daily output.

Government

Back home, she became spokesperson in John Kufuor's government and later Minister of State for Tertiary Education.