John Henry Martey Newman is 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 ...

administrator,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and a former

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of Ghana. He was appointed by President John Atta Mills in 2009 and served in that capacity even after the death of the president in 2012.

Early life and education

Newman had his secondary school education from

Mfantsipim School Mfantsipim is an all-boys boarding secondary school in Cape Coast, Ghana, established by the Methodist Church in 1876 to foster intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth on the then Gold Coast. Its founding name was Wesleyan High School and ...

and proceeded to the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and a bachelor of Laws (LLB) Degree. Newman also obtained a certificate in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Career

Newman is a barrister at law. He worked at the Ministry of Finance of Ghana from 1969 to 1973. From 1975 to 2001 he worked with

Ghana Cocoa Board The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is a Ghanaian government-controlled institution that fixes the buying price for cocoa in Ghana. Farmers are protected from the volatile prices on the world market through the price-fixing. Besides the higher quality ...

(COCOBOD) a government-controlled institution manages cocoa in the Ghana. From 1996 till his retirement in 2001 from the board, he served as its

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Political career

Chief of Staff

On 13 January 2009, he was appointed as the

of Ghana by President John Evans Atta Mills. After the demise of his boss the President, John Evans Atta Mills, Newman was the one who broke the news publicly to the world on a live television broadcast of the death of Ghana's president on 24 July 2012. He remained in that role after

John Dramani Mahama John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who served as President of Ghana from 24 July 2012 to 7 January 2017. He previously served as Vice President of Ghana from January 2009 to July 2012, and took office as presi ...

was sworn in as president on 24 July 2012 as he served as president for the remaining months to finish the term of Atta Mills.

Council of state

After President John Dramani Mahama won the elections in December 2012, he served as a member of the transitional team and after he was sworn in in January 2013, Newman handed over his duties to

Prosper Douglas Bani Prosper Douglas Kwaku Bani is a Ghanaian international aid and development manager and politician who is a former Chief of staff of Ghana and a former Minister for Interior. He is a senior manager and specialist in international peace-building and ...

as the new chief of staff. He was subsequently appointed by John Dramani Mahama to serve as a member of the Council of State and the chairman of the council.

Personal life

He is a member of the freemasonry community under the Grand Lodge of Ghana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, John Henry Martey Living people Ghanaian Freemasons Mfantsipim School alumni University of Ghana alumni Chiefs of Staff of Ghana Year of birth missing (living people) National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration alumni