Jacob "Jake" Lantei Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey (4 February 1946 – 20 March 2016) was a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

politician and advertising businessman. He was co-owner and general manager of Lintas W.A. (later Advantage Group) from 1974 before his assumption of cabinet roles in the government of John Kufuor from 2001 to 2007. He was national chairman of the

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

from 2010 to 2014.

Early life and education

Jake was born on February 4 1946 in

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, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, the second son of

Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey (26 April 1902 – 29 January 1963) was a political activist in the British colony of the Gold Coast. He was one of the founding fathers of Ghana and one of the founders and leaders of the United Gold Coast Co ...

, a lawyer and politician, and his Dutch wife Margaretha, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey had his primary education in Accra, before travelling to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to further his education.

Career

In 1966, he began work as a radio and TV scriptwriter, commentator and presenter at the

Ghana Broadcasting Corporation The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was established by law in 1968 with a triple mandate as a State Broadcaster, Public Service Broadcaster, and a Commercial Broadcaster in Ghana. Headquartered in the capital city, Accra, it is funded by gr ...

(GBC). In 1969, he joined Lintas West Africa, an advertising firm, as an account executive and radio and television producer. As Client Service Manager of Lintas in Ghana in 1971, he wrote, co-ordinated and executed Family Planning, Motivation Campaign for the Ghana National Family Planning Programme. Obetsebi-Lamptey was appointed General Manager of Lintas in Ghana in 1974 and thereafter worked on a number of programmes for the company and others in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. From 1984 to 1999, he worked as a consultant to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO). Obetsebi-Lamptey was the Plenary Speaker at the World Summit on AIDS,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and Second International Symposium on the disease in Yaoundé, Cameroon. He is a past president of the Advertising Association of Ghana, and has several publications to his credit, covering topics from family planning to

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

prevention in Africa.

Political career

He was the national campaign manager of the victorious

(NPP) during the 2000 Presidential elections, which saw the first civilian-to-civilian transition of power in Ghana. Obetsebi-Lamptey was appointed Minister for Presidential Affairs (Chief of Staff) from 2001 to 2003 under President

John Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been sp ...

in Ghana. In a reschuffle, he was appointed Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital from 2003 to 2005. From 2005 to July 2007, Obetsebi-Lamptey served as Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations in the cabinet of President

. He resigned his post in July 2007 to campaign for the NPP presidential flagbearer nomination for the 2008 Presidential elections but was unsuccessful at the attempt. In 2010, he was elected the national chairman of the New Patriotic Party. He was chairman of the political party until 2014.

Death

Obetsebi-Lamptey died at a hospital in London on 20 March 2016 at the age of 70. He had been suffering from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

and in December had received treatment in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

after becoming unwell.Kobby Asmah & Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson
"Nation mourns Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey"
''Graphic Online'', 21 March 2016.

References

External links