Elizabeth Araba Mensah-Bonsu
Lovingly known as “Mama Araba”
2 December 1932 — 17 April 2020 · aged 87
Teacher and headmistress of Cape Coast who taught three generations to stand tall
Cape Coast, Ghana Born in Anomabu, Central Region Resting at Anomabu family cemeteryAbout Elizabeth
The bell at Wesley Girls' High School rang, in Elizabeth Mensah-Bonsu's years, five minutes earlier than the timetable said. Nobody ever discovered who adjusted it, but every girl who passed through the school learned to be early.
Born in Anomabu in 1932, Elizabeth was the daughter of a fisherman and a Methodist class leader, and she entered Wesley Girls' in 1946 on a scholarship that her church congregation topped up with coins collected on Sundays. After teacher training at the Presbyterian Women's Training College in Aburi, she returned to Wesley Girls' as a teacher in 1955. For twenty-one years she taught English and Religious Studies, ran the school's debating society, and was housemistress to hundreds of boarders who now include doctors, ministers and a judge.
In 1971 she took a degree at the University of Cape Coast as a mature student, with three young children in tow, and in 1977 she became headmistress of Anomabu Methodist Girls' School, where she remained for fifteen years. She taught that a woman should never apologise for being the cleverest person in the room, only for being late.
She married Kobina Mensah-Bonsu, a land surveyor, in 1957, and was widowed in 2001. Her daughter Esi became a surgeon, her son Yaw a minister. She loved banku with grilled tilapia, the Methodist hymns of her childhood and the sound of the Atlantic from her veranda.
She died peacefully at home in Cape Coast in April 2020, as the country entered lockdown. Only a handful of family could gather for her burial, but thousands of former pupils watched the thanksgiving online. She leaves her children and seventeen grandchildren.
“Never apologise for being clever. Apologise only for being late.”
- Faith
- Christian
- Place of birth
- Anomabu, Central Region
- Resting place
- Anomabu family cemetery
- Passed away
- 17 April 2020, Cape Coast
Private Burial & Thanksgiving Service
Friday, 24 April 2020 at 09:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Secondary education
Wesley Girls' High School1946 – 1951 · Cape Coast
Entered on a scholarship supported by her congregation.
Teacher Training Certificate
Presbyterian Women's Training College1952 – 1954 · Aburi
Specialised in English and religious studies.
Teacher and Housemistress
Wesley Girls' High School1955 – 1976 · Cape Coast
Taught English and ran the debating society.
Married Kobina Mensah-Bonsu
1957 – 2001 · Cape Coast
A marriage of forty-four years.
Bachelor of Education
University of Cape Coast1968 – 1971 · Cape Coast
Studied as a mature student while raising three children.
Headmistress
Anomabu Methodist Girls' School1977 – 1992 · Anomabu
Doubled enrolment and introduced a science laboratory.
Tap an organisation to find others who studied or worked there.
Family & connections
Also remembered on Evermore
Elizabeth is survived by
- Dr. Esi Mensah-Bonsu· Daughter
- Kojo Mensah-Bonsu· Son
- Rev. Yaw Mensah-Bonsu· Son
- Efua Mensah-Bonsu· Daughter
- 17 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
5 people have shared a memory of Elizabeth.
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Daughter
Mummy never missed the hospital's bad news bulletin, because she wanted to know which of my patients needed prayers. She was my first teacher, my first matron and my first friend. I hope I am as good a doctor as she was a mother.
- AO
Former pupil, now a lawyer in Washington, DC
She told a shy fourteen-year-old that the debating society needed a captain. I said I could not talk in front of people. She said, 'Then you will learn.' I have argued before the courts of three countries since. Thank you, Mama Araba.
- KA
Neighbour and former pupil's husband
I once forgot her birthday and she let me know by sending a grammar book. It was a gentle reproach and a correct one. She was the best-read woman in Cape Coast and she wore it so lightly that you hardly noticed.
- RH
Minister, Wesley Methodist Cathedral
Madam Araba read the second lesson at our cathedral every Easter for forty years, and nobody ever read it better. She taught the Bible the way she taught English, with a pencil in hand and a smile that said she expected better.
- DQ
Former pupil, Wesley Girls' High School
She stood at the door of the dormitory every night and said goodnight to each of us by name. When she retired, we realised she had never skipped a single one in twenty-one years. I am a paediatrician because of how she made me feel I could be anything.
