The President
PROFILE OF THE PRESIDENT
Surv Rev Mrs Rosemargaret Esubonteng (FGhIS, MRICS)
“Life Is Dynamic: Be Discerning, Influence, Embrace Positive Change and Thrive!” Rosemargaret Esubonteng
Rosemargaret Esubonteng, 50th President of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors First Female Quantity Surveyor to hold the position
Introduction 
Rosemargaret is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Project Manager who has worked with both Private and Public Sector Clients; a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS) and a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). She has worked as a built environment professional for more than thirty-seven years.
Her academic qualifications include an MBA (Construction & Real Estate) from the University of Reading, UK, a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Management awarded by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and a BSc (Hons) Building Technology from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. As one who believes that continuous education keeps one abreast with or ahead of the times, she has been taking a number of short courses and has been to several seminars and conferences.
She is a Proud Old Girl of Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast in Ghana. She supports the activities and work of her Year Group. Recently, she run an interactive webinar on ‘Critical Thinking’ for some students her Year Group is sponsoring. She willingly assists with construction projects undertaken by other Year Groups.
Little did Rosemargaret know how much of a gender trailblazer she would be in her Surveyor’s walk. She was the only female who joined the 1979 cohort of Building Technology students at the University of Science and Technology. Twenty years ago, she became the Founder and Principal Consultant in OshDarley Consult, a Quantity Surveying and Project Management Consulting Firm in Ghana. OshDarley Consult is the first, and currently the only Quantity Surveying Consulting Firm registered with GhIS that has been founded and led by a woman.
Prior to starting OshDarley Consult, she worked at G. Ampofo & Partners, and at the then Technical Services Centre of the Ministry of Works and Housing in Accra.
She is a sought-after Resource Person for different Professional Training Programmes and Seminars. Her speaking engagements span professional, social, academic and religious fields.
Service to the Surveying Profession Her journey in the Ghana Institution of Surveyors began in 1987 when she joined as a Probationer and in 1989, she was admitted as a Professional Member. In 1999, she was elevated to the category of Fellow after having been an active member and serving the Institution in different capacities.
She has served on various Committees including the 25th Anniversary Planning Committee, the Quantity Surveying Education & Membership Committee, and the 1992 Presidential Ball Planning Committee. She has also chaired the International Affairs, Secretariat Re-structuring, Website, and the 43rd AGM & 7th Surveyors Week Planning Committees. She was one of the Examiners for the Quantity Surveying Division’s ‘Practical Application of Quantities’ paper for five years.
She has been serving on the Governing Council of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors since 2010. From 2013 to 2016 Rosemargaret was the Chairperson of the Quantity Surveying Division of the GhIS – the first woman to hold the position. During this period, she led the strategic moves of strengthening the Quantity Surveying Division’s regional presence in the country, as well as highlighting Globalization and ICT for Quantity Surveyors.
Rosemargaret has also been a Council Member of the Africa Association of Quantity Surveyors (AAQS) since 2013. Currently, she is the AAQS Vice President for the Western Region of Africa.
Following the Collaboration and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between GhIS with RICS in 2013, Rosemargaret has been the Coordinator for Relations between the two Institutions.
During the last six years, she has been a member of the RICS Sub-Saharan Africa Market Advisory Panel. She has served on different Industrywide Committees including the UN-Habitat Expert Group Meeting on ‘Women in sustainable housing: from concept to hard hat’ in 2015 held in Nairobi, Kenya; and the Technical Committee for ‘Ensuring Value for Money in Roads, Education and Health Infrastructure Delivery in Ghana’ in 2018.
Professional Values Rosemargaret believes ethical behaviour must be paramount in the work of Surveyors and that integrity must be demonstrated in the services they provide. Otherwise, the role of Surveyors as arbiters in the allocation of resources and consultants for the less informed would be compromised. Lest Surveyors, the upholders of what is right, become like the proverbial salt that lost its taste.
She believes “Our standard should stand the test of any measure; the service we offer as Professional Surveyors must be up to the required standard in any part of the world.” In this vein, Rosemargaret has been involved extensively in advocating and supporting the widespread adoption of Quantity Surveying software. OshDarley Consult runs a paperless office in relation to measurement of drawings and the preparation of bills of quantities.
Personal Values Rosemargaret values God and her personal relationship with Him as her raison d’être. She owes who she is and her achievements to Him. She has an enormous affinity and love for her family – husband, children, siblings, extended family and friends. Relationships to her are important and must be well kept.
Excellence is a value that drives what she does. She believes that life is dynamic, and competition is always with us. In her own words: “There will always be Competition. What is important is that you are aware, understand the dynamics, and know how and when to evolve!”
Global Perspectives Rosemargaret Esubonteng has been part of different meetings and consultations looking at issues of collaboration, markets, working across borders; what happens in other countries and how national policies affect the environment in which Surveyors work. This has afforded her the opportunity to look at the work of Surveyors more broadly.
In working together with people from diverse backgrounds and expertise, she has had the privilege of considering issues from different dimensions, valuing different perspectives, and knowing the importance of probing issues in much more depth.
Personal Life Rosemargaret Esubonteng is an ordained reverend minister of the Gospel at ‘Living Streams International’ – a Charismatic Church in Ghana. She is married to Rev Dr John Esubonteng, and they have been blessed with two children, Victor Esubonteng and Mrs Victress Elliott–Mills.