Rosina Konuah (left) with Elsie Sowah (right) have been friends for 86 years
We often hear stories of how the likes of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia got scholarships to further their education in Britain and their exploits thereafter.
What we don’t hear more of is the adventures of female Ghanaians during the Gold Coast era. Rosina Konuah and Elsie Sowah, like Dr. Nkrumah, won scholarships to study in Britain because of their brilliance.
Rosina Konuah and Elsie Sowah both attended the Achimota Senior High where they completed in 1940 and have been friends for over 86 years.
According to oldachimotan.org, after completing Achimota School, the two women got admission to the newly established Dispensary School at Korle Bu after being initially denied admission because they were girls.
The four-year programme they were admitted to was the precursor to what later became the pharmacy degree programme at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). After successfully completing the programme, the two women become the first female pharmacists in Ghana.
Speaking in an interview on GBC which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Elsie Sowah indicated that she joined the public service (a maternity hospital) immediately after her graduation, while Rosina Konuah said she won a scholarship to further her studies in the United Kingdom (UK).
The two met again in the UK after a couple of years, when Sowah also won a scholarship and they both studied nursing.
Despite the terrifying experience they had travelling to the UK, the two women indicated that being the first two women to win scholarships abroad and the adventures thereafter will be something they will never forget.
“I went to the UK for further studies. I went there to do a course in SR and nursing. I did well there but I missed working in Ghana.
“Being the first ladies to be sent from the Gold Coast to Britain to do a course was an achievement and we enjoyed it,” Rosina Konuah said.
Watch their interview below:
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:
IB/FNOQ
- Despite Media's Sampson K Nyamekye makes wild allegations about father of Achimota Rasta student
- Tyrone Marghuy tops class in Science & Elective Maths despite admission woes
- Achimota Rasta Saga: I 'fear' the unseen guys behind this appeal – Tereo Marghuy
- AG piling up pressure, emotional stress on Rasta kids – Lawyer
- What do you want from the Rastafarian students? – Kwakye Ofosu berates Dame over appeal
- Read all related articles
