Mission Statement
The Honourable Ishmael Ashitey Foundation (HIAF) was established to honor the memory of Hon. Ishmael Ashitey. Its purpose is to award merit based scholarships to students of Tema Manhean with high academic credentials who are pursuing a degree at a public university in Ghana. Its mission is to enhance the lives of the residents of Tema Manhean, now and for generations to come, by working together with donors to build the community through education.
Proverbs 18:15
An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
History
Hon. Ishmael Ashitey was born in Tema on the 20th November, 1954. His parents were the Late Ataa Amarh Kwabla of Amorkortse We and the late Naa Korkoi Quaye of Pappatse We, both of Tema Manhean. He received his primary education at the Presbyterian Primary School in Tema and later attended the Manhean Middle Mixed School. He furthered his education at the Kpando Technical Institute in the Volta region and went on to attend Accra Polytechnic (now Accra Technical University), where he studied Mechanical Engineering. He was a graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) with a diploma in Mechanical Engineering. He also obtained an Executive Masters degree in Governance and Leadership from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
He worked as a mechanical engineer in several organisations in Ghana and abroad to include Tema Steel Works, Accra Brewery Limited, National Industries Company in Kuwait, Tecnofin Nederlands in Libya and General Establishment for Plastics & Industries in Libya.
He later became an astute politician serving as the member of Parliament for the Tema East Constituency in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th parliaments of the 4th republic of Ghana on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Under the leadership of His Excellency John Agyekum Kuffour, he served as the Minister of State for Fisheries and Minister of State for Technology from 2001-2004. During his time in Parliament, he served as the Deputy Ranking Member for the Mines and Energy Committee as well as the Chairman of the Government Assurances Committee. In addition, he served as Chairman of the New Patriotic Party for the Greater Accra region from 2010 to 2017, leading his party to retain and regain most of the Parliamentary seats in Greater Accra. From 2017 to 2021, he served as the Greater Accra Regional Minister under the leadership and government of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
As the son of a low income family, he recognized the value of higher education and understood well the financial hardships a student can endure. Throughout his life, Hon. Ashitey endeavored to encourage students around Tema to pursue lifelong learning. He truly believed that the students of Tema Manhean possessed unlimited potential and worked to better the educational system within the community. His children established the Honourable Ishmael Ashitey Foundation to offer academic scholarships to support the students of Tema Manhean reach their highest potential and continue his legacy of lifelong learning and academic excellence.