Mark Owen Woyongo, a former Navrongo Central member of parliament, Interior Minister, and Minister of Defence, has died.
He was 78 years old.
The former MP passed away on Wednesday, January 17, at the Bank of Ghana Hospital in Accra, according to a press statement from Awini Zinge, the head of the Woyongo family.
“The head of the Woyongo family, Mr. Awini Zinge of Nayagnia-Navrongo, wishes to announce with deep sorrow the death of their beloved son and brother, Mark Owen Woyongo. The sad event occurred on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at the Bank of Ghana Hospital,” the statement read in part.
The statement added that funeral arrangements will be announced in due course.
Born on June 9, 1946, in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, Mark Owen Woyongo attended Notre Dame Secondary School in Navrongo and graduated in 1966.
After that, he was accepted into the Ghana Institute of Journalism in 1971 and went on to earn a Diploma in Journalism in 1973.
He undertook several professional courses, both in Ghana and abroad.
Throughout his tenure as a politician and communicator, Mr. Woyongo held numerous appointments.
From 1978 to 1985, he served as the Public Relations Officer of the Upper East Regional Secretariat, a role he held until 1994, when he was named Minister Counsellor for Information at the Ghana High Commission in London, United Kingdom.
Between 2009 and 2012, he served in the late former president John Atta-Mills’ administration as Upper Easter Regional Minister, following which he became a MP for Navrongo Central in 2013.
In addition, he was appointed Minister for Defence in 2013 and later became Minister for the Interior.
He bowed out of active politics in 2018, a few years after losing the Navrongo Central seat to the NPP’s Joseph Adda.
