Edward Ato Sarpong: From Messenger To Deputy Minister

A Deputy Minister-designate, last Friday, showed that one could aspire to great heights, no matter where he or she started from. The nominee of President John Dramani Mahama for the post of Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Edward Ato Sarpong, during his vetting last Friday, told the Appointments Committee of Parliament that he started his working life as a messenger. �I started my working life as a messenger in the accounts department of Automotive and Technical Services (ATS). From there, I did one year at the Snaps College of Accountancy and luckily, had admission to Institute of Professional Studies, now University of Professional Studies (UPS), where I studied for my ICA certificate,� he said. Mr Sarpong said at the IPS, students had to combine their studies with evening and weekend classes, so they had to work in order to make some money to pay for their high tuition fees. Working life �I had a job at Kenbert Mines as the accountant and again, during that period, I was frequently travelling from Accra to Ntronang in the Eastern Region, where I was paying the workers who were doing exploration for us.� After a short stay, he said, he started his professional practice as an audit trainee at Owusu & Fiadjoe, which later became Fiadjoe & Associates and then Ernst & Young as it is known today. Since then, the nominee for the Communications Ministry had never looked back as he worked with SCOA Ghana Limited, which was the sole distributor of Peugeot, Opel and Chevrolet vehicles in Ghana, as Chief Accountant from 1999 until it was liquidated in 2002. Other positions he has held include: Finance Manager for Africa Online Ghana Limited, Regional Financial Controller, West Africa, for Africa Online Holdings, then Managing Director for Africa Online Ghana Limited. From there, he became the Regional Managing Director - West Africa for Africa Online Holdings Limited, the Lead Consultant and Chief Operating Officer for K-Net Limited, a provider of connectivity solutions to banks and corporate institutions in Ghana, and has also worked as the Lead Consultant and Director, Operations and Commercial, for TV3 Network Limited. Mr Sarpong, who is now a Chartered Accountant, had also worked as a Business Consultant for Multimedia Group Limited, owners of Joy FM, Adom FM, Multi TV and others, as well as a Business Consultant and Trainer for Edge Capital Partners, his own firm, since 2011, and served as a business and leadership trainer and motivational speaker. Difficult early years All these did not come on a silver platter. He had a modest beginning, schooling at the Edinaman Secondary School at Elmina, from September 1983 to June 1984, and then the Snaps College of Accountancy from September