Hajia Mary Salifu Boforo

Hajia Mary Salifu Boforo (25 February 1951 – 13 December 2025) was a National Democratic Congress (NDC) politician and the first woman to represent Savelugu in the Northern Region, which she did for twenty years, from 1997 to 2017.

Baker, farmer and banker

Boforo was born in Savelugu. She trained at the National Vocational Training Institute in 1972 and ran a bakery and a farming business, and also worked in banking, before entering politics.

A voice for women

She won Savelugu in 1996 and held it for five terms, becoming the longest-serving MP of her time. In 2014 she became First Deputy Majority Chief Whip. She chaired Parliament's Women's Caucus and was lead advocate for the Ghana Developing Communities Association, arguing that equality between men and women was a fundamental right, not only a matter of social justice.

Later years

In 2016 she lost the NDC primary to Alhassan Abdulai, and warned that her defeat could leave women in the north with less of a voice. She died in the Greater Accra Region on 13 December 2025, aged 74, and was buried at the Savelugu Public Cemetery. Parliament paid tribute to her. She was married with four children.