Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante

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Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, also known as J.O.Y. Mante, is a Ghanaian theologian and Presbyterian minister who served as the 18th Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana from 2018 to 2024. He previously led Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, as its president for seven years.

Born on 9 November 1957, Mante hails from Larteh Akuapem in the Eastern Region and Kokofu in the Ashanti Region. He earned Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy degrees, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Claremont Graduate University in California, USA.

Mante was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in 1981. He has worked as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Ghana and taught at Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon for more than 24 years, including nine years as Academic Dean. He served as President of Trinity Theological Seminary from September 2011 to August 2018.

In his ministry, he has held various positions, including resident minister in multiple churches both in Ghana and abroad, and he served as the Presbytery Chairperson (equivalent to a bishop) of the Akuapem Presbytery from 2006 to 2011. He has also been active in education governance, serving as Chairman of the Governing Councils of Presbyterian Colleges of Education in Akropong and Aburi, and as a member of the Governing Council of the Presbyterian University College. He has sat on the Ghana National Accreditation Board and chairs the Ethics in Research Committee at the University of Ghana.

Mante is a member of several professional associations, including the American Academy of Religion, the British Ethics Society, and the Society for the Study of Theology, and he serves on the editorial board of the Trinity Journal of Church and Society. He hosted a religious TV talk show, “In the Light,” on GTV for four years.

He is married to Florence Mante, and they have three children. Together they co-founded the Adom Foundation Ghana, an NGO to assist needy children. He became Moderator-elect in August 2018, winning with strong popular support, and was inducted as the 18th Moderator on 23 December 2018 at the Akropong Presbyterian Grace Congregation church in Akropong–Akuapem. In 2019, he called for restructuring Ghana’s university curriculum to include entrepreneurship.