Board of Directors

Mrs Magdalene Awinyelya KANNAE as a member of the Board of Directors (BoD) of BasicNeeds-Ghana serves as the Vice-Chair. She also chairs the Programmes and Organisational Development Committee of the BoD.

Magdalene is a practitioner in Gender, Social Development and Peacebuilding. She is a freelance consultant on gender and development. She retired  as a public servant from the Institute Local Government Studies (ILGS), where for 14 years she headed the Gender and Social Development Centre. For close to 20 years, Magdalene worked as a community development officer of the Department of Community Development.

She is passionate about mental health of women and girls, poverty, and rural development in which she provides advice and service support as much as she can. Magdalene is also currently a member of the National Peace Council. She holds Master Degrees in Adult Education from the University of Ghana, Legon, and in Gender, Peace and Security from the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Centre (KAIPTC).

Mr Joseph Zefo KERE serves in the Board of Directors of BasicNeeds-Ghana. He is the Treasurer of the Board and serves as the Chairman of the Finance, Audit and Risks Committee of the Board.

A Chartered Accountant of good standing and businessman. Joseph worked as a Senior Manager in Deloitte  & Touche (an audit and assurance, consulting, financial, risk(s) and tax advisory services firm) in Ghana for several years. He is now an accountancy and business advisory consultant and a private businessman based in Accra.

Ms Safiatu WEMAH is a member of the Board of Directors of BasicNeeds-Ghana and serves in the  Finance, Audit and Risks Committee and in the Committee on Human Resources and Safeguarding. Safiatu has master’s degree in Microfinance and Business planning from University for Development Studies (UDS) in Ghana.  She is a Certified Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana. Safia is also a member of the Institute of Directors Ghana.

She is an experienced accountant, financial analyst, auditor, and a management Consultant. Safia has over 20 years of work and professional experience. She currently heads the Financial Reporting and Final Accounts Section of the Directorate of Finance of the UDS. Safia mentors and provide training to women on small scale businesses enabling them to manage finances of their income generation ventures.

Very Rev. Fr Lawrence AZURE serves as a member of the Board of Directors (BoD) of BasicNeeds-Ghana. He is a member of the BoD’s committee on   Human Resources and Safeguarding, and that on Finance, Audit and Risk(s).

Rev. Fr. Lawrence is an ordained Catholic Priest of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese in Ghana. He is an experienced pastor and administrator of over 20 years during which he has served as Parish Priest and Curate, and as well, a Chaplain of educational institutions. Fr Lawrence is currently the Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga.

He served as Secretary to the Late Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, Most Rev. Bishop Lucas Abadamloora. Fr. Lawrence Azure holds a BA (Hon) degree in the study of Religions and Philosophy from the St. Victor’s Major Seminary School, awarded by the University of Ghana, Legon, and a post-graduate diploma in Catechetics and Pastoral Theology from the Lumen Vitae institut international de Catéchèse et de Pastorale, Brussels, Belgium. Fr. Lawrence also has a diploma and certificate in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). Fr Lawrence in his pastoral work has supported mental health and psychosocial wellbeing needs of his parishners and students.

Truelove ANTWI-BEKOE serves in the committees on human resources and safeguarding, and on programmes and organisational development. Truelove holds a  Master’s Degree in Governance and Sustainable Development and a BSc degree in Development Studies. Truelove is a civil servant, currently working as a Planning Officer at the Regional Coordinating Council of the Ashanti Region and desk officer for NGOs.

She had previously worked for BasicNeeds-Ghana (2007-2011) where she was the Policy Research Coordinator, managed a women and mental health project, and supported BasicNeeds-Ghana’s operational start-ups in the mid-Ghana and southern-coastal areas of Ghana. Truelove remains very passionate about and supportive of mental health, poverty reduction and human rights issues in Ghana and widely.

Sebastian Nyaabah TIAH as member of the Board of Directors of BasicNeeds-Ghana serves in the Programmes and Organisational Development Committee. Sebastian is a  development professional and social Justice advocate with over  twenty (20) years  of  experience in development practice supporting  people to claim their rights  in West Africa.

In his professional and work career, he has worked in  Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. Sebastian is currently the Regional Head of Programmes for West Africa of Oxfam International. In that position as a thought leader and an actor over the last five years, he guided and empowered country teams to position Oxfam strategically on the frontiers of transforming change in the West Africa Region.

A believer in inclusive development and he has supported movements to advocate for the rights of people with mental illness and provided advisory support to fledging NGOs/CBOs working in mental health and development. Sebastian has a Master’s Degree in Development specialised in Training and Rural Extension. He is also a trained workplace coach

Simon Asabo ALANGDE as member of the Board of Directors of BasicNeeds-Ghana serves in the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. He brings his legal background to bear on the dealings of the Board of Directors and for that matter operations of the organisation. Simon is a Barrister at Law working as a practising Lawyer at the chambers of Law Offices of Ayine & Partners. He had previously served a four-year term of Ghana’s second Parliament (1997-2000) of the fourth republican constitution as a Member of Parliament of the Bongo Constituency.

Simon has a Master’s Degree in Governance, Development and Law and a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He also has background in and extensive working experience in financial accounting, auditing and taxation having previously worked as a finance officer.

Chris Underhill MBE serves as Ex-Officio and Adviser to the Board of Directors of BasicNeeds-Ghana. He has no voting rights. Chris Underhill is a social entrepreneur in the field of quality of life and health, a mentor and a thinker in the field of community and development. Chris founder BasicNeeds Trust UK and served as Founder Director for over a decade. He has developed Thrive, an organisation working in gardening, disability and community (www.thrive.org.uk), ADD International (www.add.org.uk), working in the developing world with disabled people creating systems of representation, advocacy and policy creation, and BasicNeeds worldwide (www.basicneeds.org) which promotes the Model for Mental Health and Development which he led to create in 2000.

Chris runs his own mentoring practice, Mentor Services (www.mentorservices.org.uk), and presents on health, quality of life, mental health and resilience. Chris is co-founder of a new organisation benefitting social entrepreneurs: The Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurs. He is an awardee in Social Entrepreneurship for the Skoll and Schwab Foundations, and a Senior Fellow of Ashoka. Chris has been honoured with an MBE by HRH the Queen for his work in disability.