From Teaching, Border Patrol to Parliament: Meet Krachi West's first female MP since 1992

The Member of Parliament for Krachi West, Helen Adjoa Ntoso, has opened up about her remarkable journey from the classroom to public service, detailing the challenges and resilience that have defined her path to leadership.

Ntoso, the first female MP for Krachi West since 1992, revealed that she began her career as a teacher before her life took a different turn during Ghana’s revolutionary era.

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Speaking in an interview with UNICEF Ghana in March 2026, she said she completed her training in 1982 and was first posted to Accra, where she taught in the Kaneshie cluster of schools.

“You know what, I was trained in 1982, my first posting was Accra. I was teaching in the cluster of schools at Kaneshie, and then during the revolution, we, the young ones, some of us were caught up… some of us were excited,” she recounted.

She explained that she eventually left the classroom to join the revolution, where she underwent paramilitary training and was later posted to Nkwanta as a border patrol officer.

“Even though I was a teacher, I left the classroom and joined the revolution. I had my paramilitary training and was posted to Nkwanta, where I served as a border patrol officer for nine years,” she said.

Ntoso noted that the transition from the revolutionary era to constitutional rule in 1992 marked a difficult period in her life, as she found herself unemployed for several years.

“After nine years of service, when we moved to the constitutional era in 1992, I was left without a job for five years. I felt disappointed that after all the work I had done, I had nothing to show for it,” she said.

She later worked with the Civil Defence and was subsequently appointed as a District Coordinator for the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), serving from 1992 to 1997 after the earlier service became defunct.

Despite regaining employment, Ntoso said she endured further setbacks, including job loss and multiple family tragedies.

“Three years after my party lost power, I was dismissed. Around the same period, I lost my sister, who was taking care of the family,” she revealed.

She added that her family went through a series of painful losses in the 1990s.

“My brother died in 1994, my sister in 1998, and my father in 1999. Then in 2000, I lost my job. At that point, I thought it was the end of my life,” she said.

However, Ntoso emphasised that she refused to give up despite the hardships.

“But I told myself I would not give up. I had to keep going and make something out of my life,” she said.

She encouraged others facing difficulties to remain hopeful and persistent.

I did not want to contest again - Helen Ntoso

“With all that I have gone through, I believe anyone can make it. Whether you have support or not, that is not the end of your life. I went through very sad moments, but in the end, I have overcome. By the grace of God, I have made it,” she said.



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