Vida Ofori is now married with kids
Vida Ofori, then a student, was seriously injured during a police assault on protesters in 1993 on the campus of the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS), now the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).
The unfortunate incident that nearly cut her life short was remembered by academic and author Professor Kwesi Yankah as one of the forgotten figures in Ghana’s democratic struggle.
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In a lengthy but passionate piece shared on Facebook on October 14, 2026, he made a toast to Vida, now known as Vida Asiedu Amponsah.
Prof Yankah recounted how she was shot while cooking in her room during a police operation against students of the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS).
He said that although she was not taking part in the protest, Vida suffered severe injuries when bullets passed through her door.
According to Prof Yankah, she sustained 21 pellet entry wounds, with 17 pellets lodging in different parts of her body. Doctors successfully removed only five at the time, leaving 12 inside her body.
She spent almost a year receiving treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, enduring pain and uncertainty about her future.
“She was cooking in her room, when a hail of bullets shot through her door, swept her off. 21 pellet entry points were identified on her. Seventeen got lodged in various parts of her body. Five were successfully removed. A year after, Vida still had twelve pellets lodged in her frail body,” he wrote on Facebook.
In March 1994, Prof Yankah said he visited Vida at Korle Bu and published her story in his column in the Mirror newspaper.
At the time, she was worried about the pellets remaining in her body, the pain she continued to experience, and the effect her injuries could have on her future.
She also feared how her condition might affect her chances of marriage and having children.
“I worry a lot about the effect of rusty pellets, the several x-rays, the infra-red I have been through, etc. I feel very uneasy with all these in me. I am a young lady…not yet married,” she said in the account published by Prof Yankah.
Vida also spoke about the difficulty of watching her classmates graduate while she remained in the hospital.
Her injuries had cost her almost a year of schooling, and she faced the challenge of catching up with her education.
Beyond the physical pain, she was disappointed by the government's failure to compensate her, despite a report by a medical board.
Prof Yankah said the Education and Interior ministries had remained silent on the matter, although Vida received support from her institution, IPS (Institute of Professional Studies, now UPSA), and some government officials.
Prof Yankah added that he had called on Parliament to express concern about the government's silence, describing her as an innocent person caught up in a violent response to a student protest.
Vida herself questioned whether she would have received better treatment if she had come from a politically connected family.
“Perhaps if I had been the daughter of a Minister, I would have been sent abroad for treatment,” she was quoted as having said.
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Prof Yankah said his media publications yielded results as the government announced plans within a week of the publication to send her to Cromwell Hospital in London for further treatment.
Vida recovered successfully after being sent abroad for medical treatment and later went on to build her family and her life.
Read his full post below:
MAG/VPO
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