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e.tv Ghana has for the third year running, released an official list of Ghana�s most influential people, this time for the year 2012. The list, intended to acknowledge Ghanaians who have made a positive impact in their various fields in the year under review were arrived after series of text messages from viewers of the station. In a poll featuring a range of public figures associated with enterprise, politics, sports and other sectors, viewers of e.tv Ghana settled on Mr. Roland Agambire, CEO of rlg Communications and Executive Chairman of the AGAMS group of company as the most influential Ghanaian in the year 2012. In the year 2011, Mr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, an industrialist was adjudged the most influential in a similar poll. This year, Asantehene Otumfuor Osei Tutu, Electoral Commission chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan and Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Turkson all made it in the top ten list. The top ten most influential Ghanaians are described below with the full list of the 100 most influential included beneath. 1. MR ROLAND AGAMBIRE Mr. Roland Agambire has a very functional and meaningful educational background with a practical sense of delivery. After his Secondary education, he did various courses in Exporting and Marketing with GEPC and proceeded to do Business Administration programmes in GIMPA. Mr Agambire is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of rlg Communications and Executive Chairman of the AGAMS group of companies. He established rlg in March 2001. The company is a pioneer in the establishment of a mobile technology institute in Ghana and the West African sub region. Mr Roland Agambire, Chief Executive Officer of rlg Communications was adjudged the Marketing Man of the year 2011 by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIMG). Roland Agambire emerged as 2nd Most Respected Chief Executive Officer and his company the 3rd Most Respected Company at the Most Respected Company and CEO Awards.Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) released the latest Ghana Club 100 listing, ranking RLG as the 2nd Best Company in Ghana. At a continental level, RLG was named among the 12 Finalists in this year�s Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship by the South Africa based Africa Leadership Network. RLG is the foremost assembler of mobile phones, laptops and desktops in Africa and currently holds a partnership status with Microsoft. The company employs close to a thousand permanent staff in Ghana and its training wing, the RLG institute of technology has trained some 30,000 youth in ICT related disciplines since 2006. It currently has presence in Nigeria, the Gambia, China and Dubai and has invested heavily towards charity and corporate social responsibilities. 2. MRS THERESA OPPONG � BEEKO Dr. Theresa Oppong-Beeko is the President of Manet Group, the second largest real estate developer in Ghana and the diversified office / residential and hotel accommodation provider. Over the years, her company has played an active role in the real estate industry. The company has built over 1,200 residential units, a three-star hotel resort, and other civil engineering facilities such as urban roads, motor carriages, bypasses, just to mention a few. Theresa Oppong Beeko, brings a refreshing whiff of fresh air to this, usually colourless, notoriously male-dominated industry. She is blazing an entrepreneurial trail in Ghana's real estate industry that is proving hard, near impossible for her private sector counterparts to follow. Today, she sits astride the huge Manet Group, which comprises Manet Housing, a real estate development firm, Manet Paradise, a three star hotel resort, Manet Construction a civil engineering company; and Manet Towers. MANET Properties was presented with the overall property award for 2012 dubbed �Property Walk of Fame� at the 5th Ghana Property Awards. 3. DR AFARI GYAN Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan is the chair of the Electoral Commission of Ghana. He was a member of the Committee of Experts that drafted the Fourth Republican Constitution for Ghana. With the coming into force of the Fourth Republican Constitution, a new Electoral Commission was set up and Afari-Gyan became its first substantive chairman. He has successfully supervised all the Ghanaian elections held under this constitution so far. He has successfully chaired the conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. He has also worked in a large number of other African countries, and has written several books. He played a major role in the 2012 general election in Ghana. 4. OTUMFUO OSEI TUTU II Otumfuo Osei Tutu is the 16th Asantehene, the traditional King of the Ashanti people in Ghana. The Asantehene has frequently commented the works of Ghana politicians, even with critical undertones nevertheless remaining highly revered in the country. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has won great admiration for the unique brand of leadership he has provided the people of Asante, in particular, and Ghana in general, since he assumed the high office of Asantehene and the enormous responsibilities that go with the position. Ever mindful of the importance of peace and stability to good governance, one of his first tasks was to encourage his people to seek the path of arbitration instead of litigation in numerous land and succession disputes that had plagued Asanteman for decades. This task, he has performed with great wisdom and tenacity of purpose, earning for himself remarkable respect among the people. The vision of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II encompasses education, health and economic development. He set up the Otumfuo Education Fund to generate resources, effort to provide opportunities for quality Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Vocational Education not only in his Kingdom, but also in Ghana generally. In 2000, he embarked upon a vigorous campaign to draw attention to the benefits of individual/group sponsorship of the education of orphaned children. Over the first five years, the Otumfuo Education Fund has benefited over 4,000 students at various levels of education. It was his keen determination to enhance the quality of education of Ghanaians that he received the commendation of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, conferring on him the Symons Award in April, 2000. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II stands tall as a visionary, a great leader of Asanteman, leading in the preservation of cultural heritage as well as combining modernism and tradition to promote the education, health and economic development of his people. 5. JOHN AGYEKUM KUFUOR John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor was the second President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. His administration's domestic policy in the first term was marked by fiscal and monetary stringency on the economic front, aimed at stabilizing a national economy that had stagnated and was in decline. His social vision was focused on unleashing the entrepreneurial, creative and innovative potential of Ghanaians as a means of creating wealth and hence dealing with the social challenges facing them. He served as Chairman of the regional grouping ECOWAS for two consecutive terms � 2003 and 2004. His stature as statesman, democrat and credible spokesman for Africa has found expression in his invitation to major international meetings and conferences. His administration is said to have received the most financial assistance of any in the history of Ghana. Kufuor has been honored with numerous awards, including the Face-of-Good-Governance Award, Chatham House Prize, the Climate Change Award, and the World Food Program�s Global Ambassador against Hunger. 6. NANA ADDO DANQUAH AKUFO ADDO Born on the 9th of March, 1944, Nana Akufo Addo ran for President of Ghana in the 2012 presidential elections as the New Patriotic Party candidate. The experienced politician is from Kyebi in the Eastern region. He is married to Rebecca Akufo Addo. In the 2012 presidential election in Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo for the second time running was declared loser in the race to the NDC�s John Mahama. Akufo-Addo has over the year used his law to practice to champion the cause of human rights, rule of law, justice, freedom and democracy in the country. In the lead up to the 2012 election, he ran a dynamic campaign based on a promise of free education for Senior High Schools in the country. 7. PETER CARDINAL TURKSON Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkon is a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace since his appointment by Pope Benedict XV. He had previously served as Archbishop of Cape Coast. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John Paul II in 2003. Cardinal Turkson was a professor at St. Teresa's Minor Seminary from 1975 to 1976, whence he entered the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, earning a licentiate in Sacred Scripture in 1980. John Paul II created him Cardinal-Priest of S. Liborio in his last consistory of 21 October 2003. Turkson is the first Ghanaian cardinal, and was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave, which selected Pope Benedict XVI. He was described as "one of Africa's most energetic church leaders" by a UK Catholic magazine. 8. H.E JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA John Dramani Mahama was the Vice President of Ghana from 2009 to 2012, and he took office as President on 24th July 2012 following the death of his predecessor, President John Atta Mills. A respected communication expert, historian, and writer, Mahama was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2009 and Minister of Communications from 1998 to 2001. After completing his undergraduate education, Mahama taught History at the secondary school level for a few years. Widely acclaimed both locally and internationally for his natural charisma, affable, down to earth personality and sterling leadership qualities, he is arguably the first Ghanaian leader to have served at all levels of political office. After the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills, his political supporters christened him �Ahobrasehene� meaning 'King of Humility' in the Akan language to crown his accolades. 9. MRS ELLEN HAGAN Mrs. Ellen Hagan, Chief Executive of L�AINE Services Ltd and a proud member of the Ghana Club 100 was recently named the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) Marketing Woman of the Year, 2011. This prestigious award was conferred on her for her years of invaluable investment and service to Human Resource Development in Ghana. Apart from this award, the company was named 50th on the Ghana Club 100 and also won CIMG Print Advert of the Year, 2011 for their �Bend Over Backwards� advert campaign. L�AINE Services are publishers of two magazines: the only HR magazine in Ghana, the HR Focus and now the MM Focus magazines (Marketing and Media). Mrs. Hagan was awarded the �Strategic Leadership Award� at the World HRD Congress in India in 2011, in recognition of her achievement in Human Resources development in Ghana. She also received the International Gold Star for Quality Award, in Geneva, in 2012. The International Christian Business Excellence Awards (ICBE global awards) also conferred two awards; Best Consultant and Best Consultancy for the year 2010/2011. Mrs. Ellen Hagan is a human resource practitioner with over 25 years� experience. She is an executive member of the Governing Council of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners, Ghana and has represented the Ghana Employers� Association (GEA) during International Labour Organization (ILO) conferences on numerous occasions and an Honorary Fellow from the Boardroom Institute of the Graduate School of Governance and Leadership. 10. JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS His Excellency the Former President of Ghana, Flt Lt (rtd) Jerry John Rawlings was born on the June 22nd, 1947. He founded the National Democratic Congress which won the 1992 general election. He took office in 1993, and was re-elected in 1997. In October 2010, Jerry John Rawlings was named AU Envoy to Somalia. This appointment came as the situation in Somalia continues to be of particular concern. In this context, the appointment of Mr. Rawlings bears testimony to the renewed commitment of the AU, in close coordination with IGAD, to work towards the successful conclusion of the peace and reconciliation process in Somalia, including through strengthening the AU Mission in that country.