Yaw Osafo-Maafo

Former Minister of Finance (2001-05)

Education: Achimota School, Accra; BSc Mechanical Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, 1967; Diploma from the Metal Engineering Institute, United States.

Career: Managing Director, Bank for Housing and Construction, Ghana, 1982-89; Managing Director, National Investment Bank, Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), 1990-92; Chair Representative, Ghana Institution of Engineers; Member of Parliament, Akim Oda Consituency, Ghana, 1997-2009; Minister for Finance & Economic Planning, New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, 2001-05; Minister of Education, Youth & Sports, NPP administration, 2005-06.

As Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo received a debt-relief deal backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank totalling US$893 million. All eyes were on him as he took over as Education and Sports Minister in 2005, a year before Ghana qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but he lost his position in a cabinet reshuffle after only a year.

On 29 March 2010, the former Finance Minister was called before Ghana's Criminal Investigations Department to answer allegations of causing financial loss to the State.