Rose Akua Ampofo (8 May 1948 – 14 March 2003) was a Ghanaian educator and gender advocate[1][2] who became the first woman in Ghana to be ordained a Presbyterian minister.

[3][11][12] She often remarked in the Twi language, “Onipa yɛ mɔbɔ,” meaning “Human beings deserve sympathy.” [3] She believed in a practical approach to theology and Christian ministry, noting that “Faith must change people’s lives to make them better,” and concluded that “I have helped others to find freedom they needed to create a future for themselves.” Highlighting the important role of women's education and economic empowerment, Rose Akua Ampofo once noted, “It’s the woman’s womb which bears the man,” juxtaposing it with a Ghanaian proverb, “A house without a woman is an abandoned house and the fire has gone out, too.”[13] In her role as the Director of the PWTC, she provided technical, material and informational resources to train women for gender-oriented development in leadership, communication, business and finance.

[3][4] Rose Akua Ampofo died tragically in a motor accident on 14 March 2003, while on a business project to South America, in the Peruvian mountains, after her car plunged into a river.

[4] Her funeral service was held at Abokobi in May 2003 and was officiated by the then Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, the Rt.

[3] The ceremony was attended by about 5000 people from Ghana, Zimbabwe, Canada, South Korea, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.

Her friend, the academic, Esther Ofei-Aboagye, eulogised her, “Rose was an overcomer.”[3] In 2015, the women's wing of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana instituted the annual “Rose Akua Ampofo Memorial Lectures” at Abokobi, in her honour and in recognition of the role she played in Ghanaian women's empowerment.

[4] In 2019, she was posthumously honored together with Dr JB Danquah, William Ofori-Attah and others for their input in the establishment and expansion of the Akyem Abuakwa Presbytery and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.