Dr Alhaji Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, born on December 14, 1974, was a Ghanaian politician and member of the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Parliaments of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
He was the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central and served as the minister of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation until his death.
Earlier, the late Dr Mohammed served as the NDC MP for Nanton, the Deputy Minister for Information and Media Relations, and the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.
In December 2024, he was re-elected to serve as MP for the Tamale Central Constituency in the Ninth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
Education
The late Tamale Central NDC MP had his secondary education at Ghana Senior High School (Tamale). He was a trained teacher who held a teacher’s certificate A from Tamale College of Education (TACE), formerly Tamale Training College (TATCO).
He also held a master’s degree in Development Planning, and International Relations and Diplomacy from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Ghana, respectively.
In 2016, he had his LLB from Mount Crest University, and he had a PhD from the University of Ghana in 2020.
Political Career
In 2009, after a change of political power from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the NDC, Dr Mohammed was appointed the deputy national coordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme by the late President Professor John Evans Atta Mills, which was later rebranded into the Ghana Youth Employment Development Agency.
He held this position until he was elected MP for the Nanton Constituency in the 2012 elections.
Member of Parliament
In 2006, following the decision by Mr Wayo Seini, MP for the Tamale Central constituency, to defect to the NPP, a by-election was declared to fill the vacancy. Dr Mohammed stood for the NDC primaries but lost to Mr Inusah Fuseini, who eventually won the by-election to replace Mr Seini.
As a result, he contested his party’s primaries in 2008 and lost again to Mr Fuseini, who went on to retain his position in Parliament.
The late MP moved to stand for the primaries in the Nanton Constituency, and this time, he won to represent the NDC as its parliamentary candidate for the 2012 election.
2012 Parliamentary Elections
Dr Mohammed served as an MP for the Nanton Constituency in the sixth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
In December 2012, he won the parliamentary election to represent the Nanton constituency by getting 10,369 votes, representing 52.66 per cent of the total votes cast, against his closest contender, who was the incumbent member of parliament, Mr Abdul-Kareem Iddrisu, who got 8,667 votes, representing 44.02 per cent.
2016 Parliamentary Elections
In 2016, after serving one term in parliament, he lost his bid to be re-elected as MP to Mr Mohammed Hardi Tuferu of the NPP.
Mr Tuferu garnered 11,346 votes, representing 51.84 per cent, against that of the late MP’s 10,451 votes, representing 47.75 per cent of the votes cast.
2020 Parliamentary Elections
After the MP for Tamale Central, Mr Inusah Fuseini, decided not to seek re-election in the 2020 elections, Dr Mohammed contested his party’s parliamentary primaries.
In August 2019, he won the primaries after getting 737 votes against his two contenders, Mr Alhassan Adam and Mr Abdul Hanan Gundado, who got 181 votes and 319 votes, respectively.
He went on to win the main election, securing his return to Parliament as MP for Tamale Central by obtaining 41,156 votes, while the NPP’s Mr Ibrahim Anyars got 33,699 votes.
In Parliament, he was a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Trade and Industry Committees for the Eighth Parliament.
In the Ninth Parliament, he was a member of the Judiciary and Ethics and Standards Committee of Parliament.
2024 parliamentary Elections
In December 2024, he won the parliamentary election on the ticket of the NDC to represent Tamale Central by securing 52,263 votes while his opponent had 16,647 votes. He retained the seat as MP for Tamale Central until his tragic demise on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
Deputy Minister
In March 2013, President John Dramani Mahama appointed the late MP as Deputy Minister for Information and Media Relations and subsequently Trade and Industry between 2013 and 2017.
After serving in that capacity for a year, the Ministry of Information and Media Relations and the Ministry of Communications were merged, and he was moved along with Mr Kweku Rickets-Hagan, NDC MP for Cape Coast North, to serve as deputy ministers under the new Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Ekwow Spio Garbrah.
He served in this role until his party lost the 2016 elections and handed over the government to the NPP in January 2017.
On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, the late MP died in a military helicopter crash while travelling to Obuasi in the Ashanti Region for an event to combat galamsey (illegal mining).
He was aboard a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 helicopter that went down in the Adansi Akrofuom District.
The crash killed all eight people on board, including the Minister of Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah; Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Muniru Mohammed; NDC Vice Chairman Mr Samuel Sarpong; a former NDC Parliamentary candidate, Mr Samuel Aboagye; and Pilot Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala.
The other deceased were Co-Pilot Flying Officer Manaen Twum Ampadu and Crew Member Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
The late Dr Muhammed was a Muslim and married with three children.
In the Ninth Parliament, the late MP contributed to statements on “Celebrating the Laudable Stride of a Climate Parliamentarian,” “Commemorative Statement on the 60th Anniversary of the Passing of Dr Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah,” and “Commemorative Statement on the 59th Anniversary of the Overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.”
By Elsie Appiah-Ose
GNA
