On the dawn of 18th June, 1980, a boy who was latter known as Dickson Kurug Kpelim-Etime was born in the village of Gbeogo in the Tongo traditional area which is politically referred to as Talensi Constituency. He was born to Mr. Edwin Ziyaaba Kpelim-Etime of Gbeogo Tindana’s house and Madam Gladys Akumzenarime Adenya of Balungu Agben Dokko’s house.
He started his education in Gbeogo Primary school and proceeded to Gbeogo Junior Secondary School as one of the pioneering students of the school where he graduated as the Fourth best student in the school in their final BECE exams in 1996.
He continued his education at the Bolgatanga Senior Secondary School where he pursued Business course (which he only knew at that time as Accountant). Bagnaab as he was affectionately called by friends at Big Boss continue to discover himself the more and hence was always among the best. He contested and won as Assistant Library Prefect during his study at Big Boss. In 1999, he graduated from Big Boss as the fourth best student.
After a successful completion of his secondary education, his inquisitive nature took him to Kumasi to have an experience of life in the south. He had his first job as a butcher in the Kumasi Abattoir. He was there for six months and later decided to move on. His move landed him in the Fan milk business as he wanted a job that would give him the opportunity to explore Kumasi. He sold Fan milk products for another six months and decided that he needed to also know Accra, the nation’s capital.
An invitation by his uncle (Mr. Jacob Abaa Alenga) to come to Accra and teach in his school (Gelma International School) was an answer to his prayers. Upon his arrival, he was asked to teach class three. He did his work well to the admiration of his uncle who later made him his special assistant. He was there for six months.
In July 2001, there was a call from home for Dickson to come and assist in Shia Primary school. He joyfully accepted the call and returned home to teach in Shia primary school. He taught as a voluntary teacher at Shia for Four months before GES appointed him as a pupil teacher. At shia, though he was the youngest teacher at the time, he was made the lead teacher for training programs, the program teacher for the Catholic Relief Service feeding program and the PTA secretary.
He resigned from Shia Primary School in order to pursue further studies at Accra Polytechnic in 2002. He studied HND in Accountancy which was in line with his dream of becoming a chartered Accountant. Life in Accra Poly was very challenging financially and it only took the grace of God and support from many family and friends for him to graduate successfully.
Prior to his graduation from Accra Polytechnic, Unilever Ghana employed him on contract for four months spanning the period September, 2004 to December, 2004 as an enumerator.
Whiles he was yet to finish his four months’ contract with Unilever Ghana, national service postings were done in November, 2004 and he was posted to Nasona Oil Co. Ltd.
He therefore started his national service in January, 2005 with Nasona Oil Co. Ltd, one of the thriving indigenous oil marketing companies in Ghana. Immediately after his national service, Nasona oil co. ltd found him to be a very useful human resource. So he was permanently engaged as an Accounts Officer.
Whiles at Nasona oil, he started his professional exams in June, 2006 and by the grace of God, discipline and hard work, qualified as an accountant by the end of 2008.
At Nasona, he rose through the ranks to become the assistant accountant of the company, a position he held until he resigned in June 2010 for higher challenges.
He is a devoted Christian who worship with Assemblies of God Church, Ghana.
He is currently the Managing Partner of Kutal and Winko Accounting Services where he is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the company.
He also previously worked as Financial Planning Analyst for GHACEM cluster 1 (Ghana, Gambia, Serra Leone and Liberia), the Senior Finance and Business Development Manager of Strategic Communications Africa Limited (Stratcomm Africa) and the Head of Finance and Administration for Ghana Insurers Association.
He is a chartered Accountant (Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants-ACCA, Uk and member of Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana-ICAG) and holds an MBA in Finance from Central University.
Dickson has over 18 years of experience in the private sector and international development.
He has extensive experience in handling finance function entailing strategy, business plans, budgeting, financial and management accounting, financial management, investment management, contracts management in private sector with some experience in multi-donor funded projects and Multinational Corporations reporting and compliance requirements including GIZ and Unilever with proven ability to improve operations, impact business growth & maximize profits through contributions in financial management, cost reductions & productivity improvements.
As a social democrat, Dickson joined the NDC in the year 2000 and has remained a committed member ever since.
In 2008, he was a member of the campaign team in the Talensi Constituency for the Election. He played a major role as a member of the monitoring team for the central zone of the constituency. As part of this role he took it upon himself to transport as many electorates as possible especially the aged to the election centers to cast their votes.
In 2012, he was encouraged to contest on the ticket of the NDC in Talensi Constituency. He picked and completed the nominations forms but did not file for strategic reasons. He was subsequently drafted into the campaign team for the Talensi Constituency. He was also part of the election monitoring team for the Talensi Constituency on the day of the election for NDC for the 2012 elections.
In 2016, he was part of the campaign team for the constituency, where we worked hard to ensure landslide victory for the parliamentary and presidential candidates of the party.
He was specifically in charge of the 3 branches of Gbeogo / Kaare electoral area as part of the operation adopt a Polling Station. In this capacity, he worked closely with the Branch executives and delivered massive votes for the Presidential and Parliamentary candidates of the party in the constituency.
He is currently a member of the National communication team of the party, where he contributes to formulating strategic messages for the party communicators.
Dickson has been the founding president of Talensi Rock Youth Association, Youth Ministry of Tongo Central Assemblies of God Church and AGCM Alumni, Accra Technical University. He is currently the Secretary of Talensi Rock Union, Accra branch.
He is passionate about the development of Talensi District and Ghana and Africa at large.
He is successfully married to Boranbii Rose Kpelim-Etime from Kokonwoob’s house in Shia.
LEADERSHIP CREDENTIALS OF DICKSON KPELIM-ETIME
As early as age 10, Dickson started showing signs of his leadership qualities. At that age, the seniors in their locality would usually sent some of the young ones with Dickson as the leader to go to Bolga Market on foot to buy football (obey the Wind).
His leadership qualities became evident at Big Boss where he was voted the Assistant Library Prefect in 1999 He was also the Organizer of the Tongo students union (TOPASCO) at Big Boss in the same year.
After secondary school, he was the founding CA’s President of the Tongo Central Assemblies of God Church.
At Accra Polytechnic, he was a member of the Association of Polytechnic HND Accountancy Students (APHAS) finance committee which supervised the finances of the Association in Accra Polytechnic.
During his national service, he together with six other young people from the Talensi Constituency founded the Talensi Rock Youth Association (TAROYA) a youth wing of Talensi Rock Union. He was elected the founding President of TAROYA which he occupied from 2005 to 2007.
He is currently the Secretary of Talensi Rock Union, Accra Chapter.
SUMMARISED PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
Young but mature in thought
Achievement oriented
Humble, honest and objective
Visionary
Effective Team player
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