Richard Gyan-Mensah

Richard Gyan-Mensah is a Ghanaian accountant, petroleum industry finance professional and politician born on 20 June 1982 in Gomoa Assin Brofoyedur in the Central Region, who serves as the Member of Parliament for the Gomoa West constituency. A member of the National Democratic Congress who has represented the constituency since January 2021 and retained his seat in December 2024 with more than sixty per cent of the vote, he brings a professional background in petroleum sector finance and accounting to parliamentary work as Vice Chair of the Budget Committee of Parliament.

Education and professional career

Gyan-Mensah obtained his Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in business in 2001. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting in 2007, followed by a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Finance in 2017, giving him a decade of professional experience between his undergraduate and postgraduate accounting qualifications. He worked as a Mathematics and ICT tutor at Gomoa Dominase D.A. Junior High School and as a part-time tutor at City Business College before transitioning fully into the private sector. His finance career included roles as an accountant at Trust Hands Auto Limited, Assistant Accounts Manager at Union Oil Ghana Limited and Head of Finance and Planning at Petrosol Ghana Limited, one of Ghana's petroleum retail and distribution companies. He also served as General Manager of Desert Oil Limited, a senior executive role in the downstream petroleum sector that gave him strategic management experience in a heavily regulated industry.

Parliamentary career

He was first elected Member of Parliament for Gomoa West in December 2020, defeating then-Deputy Communications Minister Alexander Abban with 53.01 per cent of the vote. In December 2024, he retained the seat with 30,884 votes representing 60.93 per cent, defeating NPP's Bismark Baisie-Nkum who received 19,221 votes, an increase in his vote share of nearly eight percentage points that reflected sustained constituency support and the national NDC wave of 2024. He serves as Vice Chair of Parliament's Budget Committee, a senior committee assignment that aligns his accounting and petroleum sector finance expertise with the oversight of Ghana's national budget, revenue and expenditure. He is also a member of the Youth and Sports Committee and the Security and Intelligence Committee.

Political Legacy

Richard Gyan-Mensah's petroleum sector finance career, his Master's in Accounting and Finance and his Vice Chairmanship of the Budget Committee make him one of the NDC's most credentialled fiscal oversight parliamentarians from the Central Region, a combination of professional depth and growing electoral strength that defines his parliamentary profile in the Ninth Parliament.