Nana Amba Eyiaba I

Nana Amba Eyiaba I, known non-formally as Eunice Amba Amoah (born February 18, 1950), is a Ghanaian queen mother from the Effutu Municipal District of Central Region, Ghana. She is the former Director of Education for Central Region. From 2004 to 2010, Eyiaba was appointed by President John Kufuor to serve as a member of the national Electoral Commission of Ghana, co-organizing and supervising the parliamentary and presidential elections of 2004 and 2008.

As an advocate for the increased recognition and political participation of queen mothers in Ghanaian society, Eyiaba was instrumental in establishing the national Council of Women Traditional Leaders (CWTL) in 2001. She served as an executive member for CWTL until 2016.

Eyiaba has served on the board of directors for the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, Panafest, the Central Region Tourism Development Committee, the Environmental Protection Agency, the OLA College of Education, the Graphic Communications Group Limited, and the Mental Health Authority Board. In 2017, she was Vice-Chairperson for the Central Regional Peace Council Board.

Early life and education

Eunice Amba Amoah was born on February 18, 1950, in Cape Coast, Ghana.

In 1971, after finishing her basic schooling and working as an untrained teacher for several years, Amoah completed her Teachers’ Certificate ‘A’ from the Teachers’ Training College in Accra. In 1977, she took an Education Specialist course at the Advanced Teacher Training College at the University of Education, Winneba. In 1980, Amoah received her Diploma in Advanced study of Education from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), and from 1994 to 1997, Amoah studied in the Bachelor of Education program at UCC, completing her degree with a major in Educational Psychology. The title "Nana" is a term of respect that signifies status, and queen mothers are given the role for life.

Council of Traditional Women Leaders

Historical background Although there have been queen mothers in Ghana for hundreds of years, their political influence was diminished when European colonialists arrived and insisted on dealing solely with male chiefs. In 1957, when Ghana declared independence, queen mothers were excluded from regional institutions, and male chiefs were given sole recognition as regional leaders. By 1992, the constitution of the Republic of Ghana had formally recognized queen mothers under the definition of chiefs, but both the Regional House and National House of Chiefs did not allow queen mothers to be admitted as regular members.

Development of national council In 2001, after a national conference on leadership and representation was held by the University of Ghana, a group of queen mothers developed the national Council of Women Traditional Leaders (CWTL).

Nana Amba Eyiaba I played a key role in the development of CWTL, and served as an executive member for the council until 2016. She has advocated for new and better political forums for queen mothers, proposing the creation of a National House of Queenmothers. queen mothers could attend meetings of the regional and national Houses of Chiefs, but held no voting rights. In 2016, CWTL was in the process of fighting for full representation. and the Mental Health Authority Board. She co-organized and supervised the Ghanaian parliamentary and presidential elections of 2004 and 2008. She retired from the Electoral Commission in 2010.