Harry Amoo Dodoo (8 August 1918 – 10 February 2000) was a Ghanaian chartered accountant,

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and businessman who led the Ghana Cocoa Board at different times as chief accountant, general manager, managing director, chief executive and chairman. He was the first Gold Coast native to be a chartered accountant and the first Gold Coast indigene to work with Cassleton Elliot and Company (now

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

). Dodoo was the organizational leader of the Cocoa Marketing Board as general manager from 1955 to 1965, and as managing director from 1965 to 1967, and the chief executive on its restructuring as Ghana Cocoa Board from 1983 to 1986.

Early life and education

Harry Dodoo was born on 8 August 1918 at

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Greater Accra Region, Gold Coast. He studied at the

Accra Academy Accra Academy is a Non-denominational Christianity, non-denominational Day School, day and Boarding School, boarding Single-sex education, boys' school. It is located at Bubuashie near Kaneshie in the Greater Accra Region. The school was establishe ...

from 1935 to 1938. Dodoo begun his career at the Accountant General's department, where he worked from 1939 until 1945. In 1945 he became an Articled clerk training in the field of Accountancy at Cassleton Elliot and Company (now KPMG). In 1949, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became a member of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of July 2022, it has over 198,000 members ...

. He consequently became the first Gold Coast native to qualify as a Chartered Accountant in the Gold Coast. He worked as a Chartered Accountant with the firm from 1950 until 1952.

Ghana Cocoa Board

In 1952, Dodoo was appointed accountant for the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board (now Ghana Cocoa Board). In 1953 he was promoted to chief accountant and on 25 May 1955 he became the general manager of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board. In September 1960, Dodoo was appointed by President

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

to a ''Committee to enquire into the Cost of Living'' which was chaired by S.B. Ofori and included Kwesi Amoako-Atta,

J. V. L. Phillips James Villers Legge Phillips (1922–2012) was a Ghanaian civil servant and politician. He was Ghana's Commissioner (Minister) for Lands and Mineral Resources from 1966 to 1968, and Ghana's Commissioner (Minister) for Industries and Ghana Indu ...

, H. Millar-Craig and E. N. Omaboe. Dodoo served in the capacity of general manager of C.M.B. until 1 March 1965 when he was re-titled managing director. In July 1966, he became acting chairman of the board of directors of the Cocoa Marketing Board, whilst still as managing director, when Nana Sir Tsibu Darku left the role. On 29 July 1966,

William Ofori-Atta William Ofori Atta (10 October 1910 – 14 July 1988), popularly called "Paa Willie", was a founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana, as one of "The Big Six" detained by the British col ...

replaced Dodoo to become substantive chairman with an appointment by the National Liberation Council. Dodoo served as managing director of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board until 22 February 1967 when he resigned. In October 1981, President Hilla Limann appointed Dodoo as chairman of the governing board of the Cocoa Marketing Board. In 1983, Dodoo was appointed acting chief executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) by Chairman Jerry Rawlings, serving until 1986. On 25 September 1986, he was appointed as chairman of the board of directors of Ghana Cocoa Board. He resigned from the board of directors on 26 April 1988.

Directorships

In 1969, he ventured into private business by establishing Dodoo Lobban & Co., (now Lobban Hyde) an audit and accountancy firm in Ghana with William Drummond Lobban as partner. He retired from the firm in 1979. He served as president of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana is a professional accountancy organisation. It is the sole such organisation in Ghana with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation, and with the right to regulate the accountancy profes ...

from 1974 to 1976. His other directorships included Fan Milk, Blackwood Hodge (Ghana), Hansa Manufacturing Company Limited, Ghana Consolidated Diamonds and Ghana Aluminium Products. In the early 1960s he served on the board of the Ghana Main Reef Limited.

Others

He was vice president of the Association of Accountants of the Gold Coast (which was later renamed; the Association of Accountants in Ghana), he also served on the first council of the

and was also a past president of the institute. Dodoo has been a member of the board of governors of

. He was also a member of the Council of State in the Third Republic.

Personal life and death

He enjoyed music and dancing. He died on 10 February 2000 at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital,

. He also had a nephew by name of Johnathan Nii Boye Dodoo who despite he groomed to be a manager at I.C.A, ventured into the hospitality industry and now is the Night Manager of the Lancaster Hotel at the Kumasi Branch formerly known as Golden Tulip Kumasi City

References