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Edward Akufo-Addo

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President of Ghana from 1970 to 1972

Edward Akufo-AddoJSC
Edward Akufo-Addo
4th President of Ghana
In office
31 August 1970 – 13 January 1972
Prime MinisterKofi Abrefa Busia
Preceded byNii Amaa Ollennu (acting)
Succeeded byIgnatius Kutu Acheampong (as Head of State)
3rd Chief Justice of Ghana
In office
1966–1970
Preceded byJ. Sarkodee-Addo
Succeeded byEdmund Alexander Lanquaye Bannerman
 Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana
In office
1962–1964
PresidentKwame Nkrumah
Personal details
Born(1906-06-26)26 June 1906
Dodowa, Gold Coast
Died17 July 1979(1979-07-17) (aged 73)
Accra, Ghana
NationalityGhanaian
Political partyNon-partisan
SpouseAdeline Y. Akufo-Addo (née Nana Yeboakua Ofori-Atta) (d. 2004)
Children4, including Nana Akufo-Addo
EducationPresbyterian Training College, Akropong
Achimota College
St Peter's College, Oxford
Middle Temple
Profession
  • Judge
  • Lawyer
ReligionPresbyterian
  • Ceremonial President with executive powers vested in Prime Minister

Edward Akufo-Addo JSC (26 June 1906 – 17 July 1979) was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the "Big Six" leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana who engaged in the fight for Ghana's independence. He became the Chief Justice (1966–70), and later ceremonial President (1970–72), of the Republic of Ghana. He is the father of the former (executive) President of Ghana, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo.

Early life and education

Akufo-Addo was born on 26 June 1906 at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region to William Martin Addo-Danquah and Theodora Amuafi. Both of his parents were from the southern Ghanaian town of Akropong. He had his primary education at Presbyterian Primary and Middle Schools at Akropong. He continued to Presbyterian Training College, Akropong and Abetifi Theological Training College. In 1929, he entered Achimota College, where he won a scholarship to St Peter's College, Oxford. He studied mathematics, Politics and Philosophy and he went on to graduate with honours in philosophy and politics in 1933.

Pre-political career

Akufo-Addo was called to the Middle Temple Bar, London, UK, in 1940 and returned to what was then the Gold Coast to start a private legal practice a year later in Accra.

Early political career

In 1947, he became a founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and was one of the "Big Six" (the others being Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Kwame Nkrumah, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey and William Ofori Atta) detained after disturbances in Accra in 1948. From 1949 to 1950, he was a member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council and the Coussey Constitutional Commission.

Post-independence career

After independence (1962–64), Akufo-Addo was a Supreme Court Judge, one of three judges who sat on the treason trial involving Tawia Adamafio, Ako Adjei and three others after the Kulungugu bomb attack on President Kwame Nkrumah and for doing so was dismissed with fellow judges for finding some of the accused not guilty.

From 1966 to 1970, Akufo-Addo was appointed Chief Justice by the National Liberation Council (NLC) regime, as well as Chairman of the Constitutional Commission (which drafted the 1969 Second Republican Constitution). He was also head of the NLC Political Commission during this same time period.

From 31 August 1970 until his deposition by coup d'état on 13 January 1972, Akufo-Addo was President of Ghana in the Second Republic. Real power rested with the prime minister, Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia. On 17 July 1979, Akufo-Addo died of natural causes.

Personal life

Adeline Yeboakwa Akufo-Addo was the wife of Edward Akufo-Addo and they had four children.

Awards and honors

See also

References

  1. Goldsworthy, David (1973). "Ghana's Second Republic: A Post-Mortem". African Affairs. 72 (286): 8–25. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096326. ISSN 0001-9909. JSTOR 720579.
  2. ^ "August 28, 1970: Edward Akuffo-Addo is named President of the 2nd Republic". Ghana History Moments. Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  3. Ngnenbe, Timothy (4 August 2020). "Ghana pays tribute to founders' - Graphic Online". www.graphic.com.gh. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Edward Akufo-Addo". Ghana Web. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. "Big Six Enduring Lessons From The Founding Fathers Of Ghana". 6 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  6. Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. 2 February 2012. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-195-38207-5.
  7. ^ "Akora Justice Edward Akufo-Addo", Old Achimotan Association.
  8. "Edward Akufo-Addo" Archived 11 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Ghana Nation.
  9. "Ghana Famous People: Edward Akufo-Addo". mobile.ghanaweb.com. GanaWeb. Retrieved 7 September 2024.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded byJ. Sarkodee-Addo Chief Justice of Ghana
1966–1970 		Succeeded byEdmund A.L. Bannerman
Political offices
Preceded byNii Amaa Ollennu President of Ghana
1970–1972 		Succeeded byGen. I. K. Acheampong
Heads of state of Ghana
Queen (1957–1960)
President of the First Republic (1960–1966)
Military regime (1966–1969)
President of the Second Republic (1969–1972)
Military regime (1972–1979)
President of the Third Republic (1979–1981)
Military regime (1981–1993)
President of the Fourth Republic (from 1993)
*Acting President
Chief justices of Ghana
Nkrumah era
Military rule
Democratic era
served in both military and democratic eras
The Big Six (Ghana)
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