Directors

Leadership

Eva Esselba Mends

Chief Director

Divisional Directors

Stella Dede Williams

Coordinating Director - Operations

Felicia Ashley

Director, HCGAD

Samuel Arkhurst

Director, TDMD

Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu

Director, ESRD

Augustus Kwasi Adu

Director, PCMED

George Swanzy Winful

Director, RPD

Sampson Akligoh

Director, FSD

David Klottey Collison

Director, PIAD

Grace Mbrokoh-Ewoal

Director, Legal Division

Eva Esselba Mends

Chief Director

Ms. Eva Esselba Mends is an alumnus of University of Ghana, Legon, where she studied Political Science with Economics. She has an Executive Masters in Public Administration from GIMPA and has undertaken numerous courses over the years including at Harvard and Duke Universities.

She is a PFM expert and has extensive experience in Economic and Public Policy Formulation and Analysis, Budget Management, Aid Management, Fiscal Decentralization and Social Protection.

She joined the Ministry of Finance, Ghana, as a National Service Person in 1991 and in the past 28 years has risen through the ranks from Assistant Economic Officer to Chief Economic Officer. Positions she has held include, Head of The Americas Desk in 1998, Head of Budget Development in 2006 and Group Head of Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms in 2013.

 

As Head of the Americas Desk, she led the Technical team for the qualification of Ghana for the First Millennium Challenge Account. She was also part of the Technical team that developed and managed the Multi –Donor budget support programme.

As Head of Budget Development, she facilitated the establishment of the Fiscal Decentralization and Budget Reforms Unit of the Ministry. She led the implementation of major reforms that include gender responsive budgeting, Programme Based Budgeting and lately the development of the new Public Financial Management Act.

She served as the first female Director of Budget from May, 2017 to January, 2019 and is currently the Chief Director for the Ministry of Finance: the second woman to occupy that role in the Ministry of Finance.

She believes in constant improvement and loves leading change.

Stella Dede Williams

Coordinating Director - Operations

Mrs. Stella Williams graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 1986 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Planning, she also obtained a Master’s Degree in Development Studies (with a specialization in Local and Regional Development) from the Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, the Netherlands in 1998.

She started her career at the Ministry of Finance in 1989 and has gained extensive experience in Economic Policy Management. She has held positions in various Divisions in the Ministry. She was a key player in the development of Ghana’s first Public Investment Programme, the development of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and reforms in Public Financial Management, She was also at one point Coordinator for the Government’s Financial Sector Reform Programme and played an active role in promoting the aid effectiveness agenda in Ghana.

Before taking up her current position as the Coordinating Director, she was Director for Monitoring and Evaluation. Prior to that she was seconded to the African Development Bank for three years as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director representing, Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

Felicia Ashley

Director, HCGAD

Felicia is the Director for Human Capital & General Administration Division at the Ministry of Finance. In her capacity, she oversees the entire General Administration function of the Ministry of Finance with responsibilities spanning General Services, HR, Procurement, IT, Security, Accounts and Transport. Felicia previously worked as a Vice President and Head of Human Capital and Administration of the Databank Group.

In this role, she was responsible for the human resource strategy and functions of the Group including recruitment and staffing, learning and development, performance management, employee/labour relations and career development. Prior to taking up this appointment, Felicia worked as an Equity Research Analyst in the Research Department and was responsible for financial and economic analysis on the Ghana Stock Market and the economy.

 

Felicia graduated with first class honours in Psychology and French from the University of Ghana, Legon and has an MBA in Human Resource Management from the Paris Graduate School of Management, France. She is a member of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP) and a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

She is a lawyer and a member of the Ghana Bar Association. Her interests include coaching and mentoring the young generation and inspiring them to develop an ethical and values-based mindset in their career.

Thomas Appiagyei

Director, Budget Division

Samuel Arkhurst

Director, TDMD

Samuel Danquah Arkhurst is a Chief Economics Officer and Director of Treasury and Debt Management Division. He has over 20 years’ experience as an Economist in the Ministry of Finance.

As the Director of Debt Management he was a key figure in the current public debt management policies in the areas of reprofiling maturing domestic debt, introduction of the book building process for auction in Ghana, and the buy-back programme for loans from the international capital markets. Initiatives that won an international award for Africa.

Samuel has played major roles in different Divisions of the Ministry. He was involved in macroeconomic modelling and financial programming of the country for both the Ministry and ECOWAS.

He was the Ministry of Finance representative in the GIFMIS project for our first phase of public financial management reforms. On budgeting, he was the Head of Public Expenditure Monitoring Unit and helped develop the current cash flow planning and expenditure monitoring and analysis and also was once the Head of Tax Policy Unit.

He has been invited to give lectures and presentations at various fora on the international scene and in Ghana.

Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu

Director, ESRD

Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu is a Macro/Development Economist with over 20 years of experience in economic policy & management, public finance management, empirical research, quantitative & statistical methods, development economics, and petroleum revenue management. He has written and published extensively in these areas.

He is currently a Chief Economics Officer at the Ministry of Finance and the Director of the Economic Strategy & Research Division (ESRD) of the Ministry since 2013 with core responsibility of providing high quality research, macroeconomic analysis, and policy advice to inform and guide government’s macro-fiscal policies. Dr. Iddrisu has also held other key management positions in the Ministry of Finance since 2008, including heading Economic Planning Division (EPD) and the Real Sector Division (RSD) of the Ministry.

Dr. Iddrisu is an effective team player, with admirable leadership qualities and a strong ability to work under pressure without compromising quality. He has served on several governing boards/councils and committees, where his vast experience and knowledge in Economics, Statistics, Quantitative Analysis, and leadership skills are brought to bear on national development. His training at the Harvard Business School on Corporate Board Effectiveness has no doubt enhanced his leadership qualities.

 

He has also consulted for a number of local and international organizations and provided lecturing and facilitation services in the area of economic policy/management, statistics and quantitative methods in reputable domestic and international institutions.

Dr. Iddrisu holds a PhD and a Masters in International Development Studies from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo; an MPhil in Economics from the University of Ghana; and a BA in Economics and Statistics from the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra.

Augustus Kwasi Adu

Director, PCMED

Mr. Kwasi Adu graduated with an MSc Economics (Planning) from the Kharkov State University, Ukraine in 1993. Dynamic public service career in economic policy management with a rich mix of experience in finance, budget operations, stakeholder management and policy assessment. He has intimate knowledge of public financial management processes, policy implementation management and delivery of development results. Expertise in executing team-driven process improvements to increase efficiency and impact. Dedicated, discreet, and a dynamic goal-oriented person who is candid and strives to be a focused servant leader.

BRIEF CAREER HISTORY

Currently, Mr. Augustus Kwasi Adu is a Chief Economics Officer and the Director in charge of the Policy Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation Division. He has worked in the erstwhile ERM-Bilateral and Multilateral Divisions since joining the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in October, 1994.

EXPERIENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Policy Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PCMED)

As the first Head of M&E Unit in 2012, he oversaw its structured re-institutionalization in MoF and sustained it until it was upgraded as a PCME Division. Since 2016, he served as Head of the Policy Coordination Unit of PCMED, where he co-coordinated the preparation and timely delivery of the:

  1. MoF Strategic Plan (2010-2014; 2018-2021; 2022-2025) to guide the delivery of its mandate within the context of economic transformation;
  2. MoF Annual Progress Reports for 2012-2022 to provide update and feedback on progress implementation of programmes outlined in the Strategic Plan in fulfilment of the National Development Planning Commission (Systems) Act, 1994 (Act 480); and
  3. MoF 2020 Handing-Over Notes in accordance with the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845). 

National Assignments

  1. A member of the National Committee which set up the Commodity Exchange in Ghana.  
  2. Drafting Team Member, National Medium-Term Development Framework.
  3. A member of the Joint Monitoring Team for Government Flagship Programme under the supervision of the erstwhile Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation; and
  4. A member of Government delegation to Spain to negotiate the first Ghana/Spain Financial Protocol in 2001)
George Swanzy Winful
Director, RPD

Mr. George Swanzy Winful is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICA Ghana). Mr. Winful holds Master’s in Business Administration, Finance from the University of Leicester in the UK.

Mr. Winful is currently on secondment at the Ministry of Finance leading in the Revenue Assurance and Compliance Enforcement (RACE) initiative as the Director of the Revenue Policy Division.

He joined the Audit Service in June 1990 and rose through the ranks to the position of Deputy Auditor General. Until October 2020, he was the Deputy Auditor-General in charge of the Central Government Audit Department.

Mr. Winful played an active role in several reforms in the Audit Service. These include the creation of the Performance Audit Department in the early 2000s under the EU Project as well as during the implementation of the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) between 2010 and 2014.

In 2010, he chaired the Technical Committee which reviewed the draft Accounting Manuals for Ministries Departments and Agencies as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

Mr. Winful has rich international exposure, having participated in several international conferences and workshops.  Between 2000 and 2003 he was a Regional Trainer and a member of the AFROSAI-E Technical Working Group in Performance Auditing.

He also led a team to carry out the maiden audit of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in November 2012. Currently, Mr. Winful is a Technical Working Group member for the United Nations Panel of External Auditors.

Mr. George Swanzy Winful was born on the 10th of May 1967, he is a native of Dixcove.  He is married to Mrs. Dorinda Winful, and they are blessed with two children.

Sampson Akligoh
Director, FSD

Sampson is the Acting Director of the Financial Sector Division of the Ministry.

Prior this role he worked in the financial services industry in advisory, asset management and as an economist. Sampson was the Managing Director of InvestCorp, a financial services firm in Accra, Ghana.  He served as a Vice President at Databank where he was Head of Research and a Fixed Income Strategist.

He also worked at SIC Financial Services Limited and with ADC African Development Corporation AG in Frankfurt, which was acquired by Atlas Mara in 2014. Sampson also previously served as an Adjunct lecturer in International Economics at Ashesi University College in 2014.

Sampson holds a BA in Economics and Law (First Class Honours) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology in Ghana, and a Master’s degree in Economic Policy and Corporate Strategy from the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands.

David Klottey Collison

Director, PIAD

Mr. David Klotey Collison joined the Civil Service as an Assistant Budget Analyst at the Ministry of Finance in December, 1995. Until his recent appointment as Director in charge of Public Investment, he was the Group Head, Budget Development and was responsible for Compensations Management and Coordination of the National Budget Development Process from February, 2015.

Mr. Collison graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Agriculture, majoring in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana in 1993 and also has a Master’s in Business Administration (Finance option) from the same university in 2001.

Grace Mbrokoh-Ewoal
Director, Legal Division

Grace Mbrokoh-Ewoal graduated from the University of Ghana with a Bachelor of Law with Political Science in June, 1994. A qualified Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana and a Notary Public, she holds a Qualifying Certificate in Law from, the Ghana School of Law, having being called to the Bar in Ghana in February, 1997, and appointed a Notary Public in October, 2019.

Grace also has proficiency in the field of finance, having undertaken training in some finance-focused courses over the years, such as the IMF’s course on Fiscal and Tax Law as well as Islamic Banking and Finance in 2016.

She has 25 years of post-qualification experience as a legal practitioner and prior to her current appointment served as Chief State Attorney in the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, having risen through the ranks upon her initial appointment as an Assistant State Attorney in 1997.

She started her career as a State Prosecutor from November, 1997 to February, 2002. Between February, 2002 and March, 2009, she worked as the Legal Officer in the Recoveries Unit of the Risk Management Division of the then SG-SSB Bank (now Société Générale, Ghana), attaining the position of Assistant Manager. She was re engaged by the Ministry of Justice in September, 2009 as Senior State Attorney.

Grace Mbrokoh-Ewoal assumed the role of Director Legal of the Ministry of Finance in January 2022.

Hayford Amoh
Director, Internal Audit

Mr. Amoh is the Director of Internal Audit. He works to position the Internal Audit Unit of the Ministry as a public sector model that delivers value with professionalism, integrity, and ethics. He also provides assurance in areas bordering on value for money and financial due diligence, expenditure rationalization, project financial modelling and assessments, public financial management process and controls improvements and risk management.

Hayford has over 14 years of professional experience spanning financial statement reporting and auditing, internal controls evaluation, Risk management, Corporate Finance, and investment banking, import finance management, front loading and social accounting.

Hayford is a member of the ICAG. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Development Finance and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

Scroll to Top