Hajia Samata Gifty Bukari is a Ghanaian diplomat, politician, educationist, and the current Consul General of Ghana in Lagos. Hajia Samata, a practicing Muslim was born on the 11th of November 1952 in Yendi, a town in the Northern Region of Ghana.

She attended the Tamale College of Education from 1970 to 1976 where she obtained her Teachers Cert. ‘A’ and Specialist Home Economics qualifications. She then proceeded to the University of Ghana where she graduated with a Diploma in Home Economics in 1981. Hajia Samata subsequently obtained qualifications in BED. Home Economics and MPhil Development Studies from the University of Education and the University of Cape Coast in 1996 and 2010 respectively.

From 1970 to 1979, she worked as a class teacher in basic schools. After her national service in 1981 at Accra High School, Hajia Samata served as a home science organiser at the Yendi Home Science Center where she vigorously participated in the teaching and training of teachers from 1982 to 1991.

Between 1991 and 1993, Hajia Samata worked as an assistant headteacher at Dagbon State Technical Senior High School in Yendi. She also served as Senior House Mistress/Tutor at Tamale College of Education from 1996 to 1997.

Hajia Samata worked with the Ghanaian Danish Community Programme (GDCP), a Tamale-based non-governmental organisation from 1997 to 2000. She was promoted to vice principal just after a year of exceptional performance as a vocational teacher where she actively trained women in vocational skills and played a lead role in ensuring that the girl-child overcomes all barriers to get educated. She served as vice principal of the GDCP from 1998 to 2000.

In 2005, Hajia Samata was back to the classroom. She was appointed Headmistress of Alhassan Gbanzaba School in Tamale. She worked as Headmistress for two years until she was elevated to Deputy Director of Education in 2009, and served in this position for four years. During this period, Hajia Samata played a critical role in the coordination and supervision of both private and public schools within the Tamale metropolitan area.

In January 2014, she was the first woman to be elected as 1st Vice Chairperson of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Region, and occupied this position for four years. Hajia Samata was also a member of the Northern Region NPP Disciplinary Committee between 2008 and 2012. She also served on the Northern Region NPP campaign teams of the 2008, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and was a member of the National Council of NPP from 2014 to 2016. Hajia Samata lost in the 2008 and 2012 NPP parliamentary primaries when she contested for the seat to represent the Yendi Constituency.

Upon assumption of office in 2017, President Akufo-Addo appointed Hajia Samata as the Consul General of Ghana to Dubai. She occupied the office from 2017 to 2020, and contributed immensely to deepening the bilateral relations between the Emirate and the Republic of Ghana. Under her leadership as the Consul General in Dubai, Ghana witnessed a considerable upswing in trade, cultural exchange initiatives and export of commodities. In 2021, Hajia Samata was nominated once again by President Akufo-Addo to spearhead Ghana’s foreign policy agenda in Lagos.

Hajia Samata’s areas of specialisation include gender and development, diplomacy and governance, microcredit for poverty reduction, human resource development, quality education/girl child education, community development and local governance, women in politics, and early childhood development. She has received numerous accolades for her work towards women empowerment and overall development in Ghana.

Hajia Samata Gifty Bukari will be speaking on “Lean on Me: Humans Are Wired to Depend on One Another. The Importance of Dependable Partners”.