Born in 1945 to Kuloa-Naa Nasigrie and Madam Tani Nasigrie of Sumniboma , a village seven miles northeast of Nalerigu, the Traditional Seat of the Mamprusi tribe of Northern Region, Ghana Kuloa-Naa Nasigrie was a sub-chief (Prince) of the Kingship.
The unfortunate situation of his birth was that his mother was seven months pregnant when his father died. At birth he was named Zinya (meaning he has not seen his father).
Zinya was renamed Mahama according to Moslem custom by his uncle, Issifu Kpanarana Maasu , the Spear Bearer and Chief Linguist of the Nayiri of Nalerigu.
Traditionally, the Nayiri is the first of all the Chiefs in the Northern Region. He is the oldest son of Gbewaa from whom all the Northern Chiefs; Yaa-Naa (Chief of Yendi), Bimbilla Naa (Chief of Bimbilla) Wa Naa (Chief of Wa, Capital of the Upper West Region) and others take their origins.
The Young Mahama was one of the Pioneers to enroll at the Nalerigu Primary School started by his elder brother, the late G.Y. Mahama who shared the loss of their father with a sack from school.
In 1960 Young Mahama was one of the few bright students chosen in Middle Form Two to participate in the enumeration exercise of the year as a senior enumerator.
In Primary and Middle School, Dr Mahama was a member of the school soccer team and his friends called him Pele (after the Brazilian star). Dr Mahama benefited from the shortening of the school year that occurred when the school calender was changed from starting in January to September by doing Middle Form Two from January 1960 to July 1960 and then starting Secondary Form 1 in September 1960 instead of January 1961. Again after the Ordinary Level (General Certificate of Education) examination in September 1965, Dr Mahama was one of the few students invited to the University of Ghana, Legon to do the Preliminary Course in Science for one year instead of the then two years Sixth Form. By coincidence Dr Mahama received his results of the "0" level examination on 21st September 1965 (Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's Birthday).
When Dr Mahama received the invitation to Legon for the Pre-Science course he had no money for transport from Tamale to Accra. The Special Assistance to the Northern student�s policy of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah got him money for transport on the bus to Accra.
After the Preliminary Course in Science, Dr Mahama was accepted for the Pre-Medical Course. Dr Nkrumah was overthrown while he was still doing his preliminary course in science in 1966. Concerned about the possibility of completing his course, Dr Mahama applied for scholarship with the Baptist Mission which had a medical centre at Nalerigu as a private student. He won the scholarship and became the first Ghanaian student at the University of Ghana Medical Student to opt out of Government Scholarship in order to have the opportunity to go back to his own area.
Dr Mahama went back to Nalerigu as a Medical Doctor in September 1973 and in December that same year married his wife then Comfort Tapang. She is the daughter of his former Arts and Craft Teacher in Nalerigu Middle School, Mr Lanbobg Tapang, now Bunkpurugu Naa ( Chief of Bunkpurugu, a town in the North East corner of Ghana near the border with Togo).
Comfort was a Certificate "A" teacher but she is now a Pharmacist, having trained as such at the University of Illinois in the USA. The Mahama�s have four children.
