Background of Hannah Esi-Badu Kudjoe(December 1918 - 9 March 1986)

Madam Hannah Esi Badu Kudjoe was born at Busua, Western Region of the Gold Coast(now Ghana).

She started her elementary education at Busua Methodist School and completed at Sekondi Methodist School. After attaining her standard seven certificate, she took on dressmaking apprenticeship and subsequently became a popular dressmaker in Tarkwa,Ghana.

She married J. C. Kudjoe(a manager of Abontiako gold mine in Tarkwa).

After divorcing her husband, she began living with her brother, E. K. Dadson, a prominent actor, printer and a United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) activist.

Hannah was inspired into politics when Kwame Nkrumah stayed in their house during his visit Tarkwa,Ghana, and convinced her of the importance of women in politics.

She later became a member of the UGCC and began raising support for the party which she voluntarily served the party for two years. 

In March 1948, when the Big Six of the party were arrested, Hannah raised funds and led a campaign which led to their release. She was very involved in founding of the Committee on Youth Organization(CYO) within the UGCC. She was the only woman present when the decision to split CPP from the UGCC was made in Saltpond,Ghana and cooked for 170 of the CPP member when the party was launched in Accra,Ghana.Hannah Kudjoe was heavily involved with the Positive Action, a campaign of mass civil disobedience that eventually led to the end of the colonial rule. She became the National Propaganda Secretary for the CPP and was an extremely effective organizer, mobilizing many people to join the CPP,she habitually traveled over two thousand miles a month, moving around the country in usually clandestinely, evading police detection, organizing rallies, canvasing support for the CPP which led the their first electoral victory on 8 February 1951(the first election to be held in Africa under general suffrage).

 there was a point when some of the CPP members burnt their copies of the positive action for fear of police search and arrest but Hannah kept her copy and used it to a considerable effect. she single-handedly mobilized rallies (often illegally assembled) up and down in towns and villages explaining the importance of an immediate self governance,people broke curfew to listen to Hannah Kudjoe. 

After the successful independence struggle, Hannah founded the All-African Women's League in 1957, which later became the Ghana Women's League.

Largely independent of the new government she undertook numerous social works including establishing day care centers and nursery schools throughout the country, and recruited teachers,attendants, cooks, watchmen and labourers for the centers.she furthermore provided amenities and tools for these establishments, and the kids were provided with at least one good meal a day free of charge. She also championed the anti-nudity campaign in Northern Ghana which included free distribution of clothing donated from other countries. 

She taught women hygiene practices. she helped distributed food in times of famine, and encouraged women to farm to grow their own food.Hannah was a great Patriot, Selfless, Hardworking, and Passionate about the total well being of women, children, the disadvantaged, the oppressed, the illiterate, the lost and the needy. 

She slept in primitive houses and ate unpalatable food just to understand the plight of the nation's poorest citizens.

Hannah Esi-Badu Kudjoe; a priceless gem who in no small measure contributed to the liberation of her people from the shackles of the imperialists..