Early years and education
Harona Esseku was born in Krobonshie,Career
In 1962, he was employed by Pioneer Tobacco Company (British American Tobacco Ghana) as an executive trainee. He worked in the marketing department as a sales promotion manager for the Brong Ahafo and the then Northern Region. He took several foreign trips on sponsored trainings and was the advertising manager of Pioneer Tobacco by 1967. He also started his own business, which has operated in transport, distribution and commerce. He also has interests in fishing and farming.Political career
Constituent Assembly and parliamentary career (1968-1972)
Esseku was secretary to the Senya Beraku Development Association from 1965 to 1968, and Secretary to the Council of Youth Associations embracing the three traditional areas of Winneba, Awutu and Senya. In 1968, he was elected by the Awutus, Effutus, Gomoas and Agonas to represent them in the constituent assembly as the representative of the Winneba Administrative District for the drafting of the constitution of the second republic. Though an early enthusiast of the Third Force, he joined the Progress Party in 1969 and became one of its leading members. In the parliamentary elections that took place on 29 August that year, Harona Esseku was elected as a member of parliament for Awutu-Effutu-Senya Constituency. At 35 years, Harona Esseku became the youngest cabinet minister in the Busia government, with responsibility for the Ministry of Transport and Communications. He lost his ministerial position in a cabinet reschuffle in April 1971.Third Republic political career (1979 -1981)
At the onset of the third republic, he became a founding member of the Popular Front Party (PFP) and later a member of the steering committee of the party. However, he and other former Progress Party leaders were barred from public office in the Third Republic due to adverse findings against them by a committee after the fall of the Second Republic. Their collective petition to have their ban overturned through a court hearing failed.Fourth Republic political career (1992-)
In 1992, he was a founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as one of 110 persons who appended their signature to the first party documents filed to the electoral commission. He was Central Regional Vice-Chairman and a member of the national council of the NPP from 1995. Esseku was deputy chairman of the national campaign committee of the party for the 2000 general elections. In August 2001, he became chair of the New Patriotic Party with 348 votes as against 61 votes and 22 votes obtained by Samuel Duah Addai and Mohammed Musah respectively. He took over as chair fromPersonal life and death
Esseku was married to Janet Esseku, a Ghanaian broadcaster who worked with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. He died on 3 August 2022.Honours
Harona Esseku is a beneficiary of the member of the Order of the Star of Ghana award, conferred on him by the then president John Agyekum Kufuor in 2007.See also
* Minister for Communications (Ghana) * Busia government *References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esseku, Harona 1934 births Living people 20th-century Ghanaian politicians New Patriotic Party politicians People from Central Region (Ghana) Alumni of the Accra Academy Ghanaian MPs 1969–1972 20th-century Ghanaian businesspeople Progress Party (Ghana) politicians University of Ghana alumni