Joseph Bennet Komla Odunton (24 December 1920 – 22 December 2004) was a Ghanaian public servant and a communications expert. He served as director of information services in the

Nkrumah government Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister and first President of Ghana. Nkrumah had run governments under the supervision of the British government through Charles Arden-Clarke, the Governor-General. His first government under colonial r ...

, an assistant press secretary to the

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and principal secretary to the ministry of information on two occasions; first in the first republic and also in the NLC government.

Early life and education

Odunton was born on 24 December 1920 at

Kpong Kpong is a town in the Lower Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region of Ghana and particularly noted for the Kpong Dam The Kpong Dam, also known as the Akuse Dam, is a hydroelectric power generating dam on the lower Volta River near Akuse i ...

in the

Eastern Region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to: * Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain *Eastern Region, Ghana *Eastern Region (Iceland) *Eastern Region, Nepal *Eastern Region, Nigeria * Eastern Region, Serbia * Eastern Region, Uganda * Eastern Region of ...

of Ghana (then

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

). He had his early education at the

Aburi Aburi is a town in the Akuapim South Municipal District of the Eastern Region (Ghana), Eastern Region of south Ghana famous for the Aburi Botanical Gardens and the Odwira festival.

Methodist School from 1926 to 1934. He was admitted into 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 ...

in 1935 for his secondary education where he obtained his Cambridge Certificate in 1939. In 1943, he entered the

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

for his tertiary education on a government scholarship. He graduated in 1947.

Career

After secondary school, Odunton joined the civil service. He worked for the then Gold Coast Information department as its Assistant Propaganda Cinema Officer. His duties included trekking and campaigning on recruitment for the army. He served in this capacity until 1943 when he was awarded a government scholarship to study abroad. A year after graduating at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, he returned to the

and worked at the Ghana film unit as a script writer. In 1952 he was appointed the Ashanti Regional Information Officer. Two years later, he was promoted to Senior Information Officer. In 1957 he became the public relations officer of the

High Commission of Ghana, London The High Commission of Ghana in London is the diplomatic mission of Ghana in the United Kingdom. The High Commission operates two separate offices: at 13 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PN, and at Cromwell House, 104 Highgate Hill, London N6 5HE ...

. He was later appointed Assistant Press Secretary to Her Majesty,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1959. He thereby became the first black African to hold an appointment at the

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

. He served as director of the Ghana Information Service from 1960 until 1 March 1964 when he was appointed principal secretary at the ministry of information and broadcasting, A year later he was moved to the State Publishing Corporation as its managing director. In April, 1966 he was re-appointed principal secretary at the ministry of information by the then government; the

National Liberation Council The National Liberation Council (NLC) led the Ghanaian government from 24 February 1966 to 1 October 1969. The body emerged from a ''coup d'état'' against the Nkrumah government carried out jointly by the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed For ...

. He served in that position until 1969 when the National Liberation Council handed over to civilian rule. In 1970, he was made principal secretary to the ministry of defense. In 1973, he was again appointed director of information services and in 1974, he became director of scholarships at the Scholarship Secratariat.

Buckingham Palace Appointment

Odunton was appointed in 1959 by the Queen of the United Kingdom,

after a palace party. He was there to represent the Ghana High Commission in London. He began work on Tuesday 19 May 1959 as the assistant press secretary at

. He was responsible for organising the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and her husband;

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

's visit to Ghana in November, 1959. He was also responsible for helping the Queen in her tour during the period. He worked as an assistant to Commander Richard Colville who was then the press secretary to the queen. In his statement he said:

"I hope to be the first of many coloured people to be employed at the Palace".

Personal life

Joseph was married to Mercy Odunton, together they had four children. His son,

Nii Allotey Odunton Nii Allotey Odunton, a mining engineer from Ghana, was the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, serving back to back four-year terms starting in 2009 and ending in 2017. He was succeeded by Michael W. Lodge. Biography Odunto ...

, is a mining engineer and was the Secretary General of the

International Seabed Authority The International Seabed Authority (ISA) (french: Autorité internationale des fonds marins) is a Kingston, Jamaica-based intergovernmental body of 167 member states and the European Union established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of ...

. His daughter the late Muriel Odunton was a British actress. His second daughter, Elizabeth Mary Baitie is the Principal o
Merton Montessori School
which was established by Joseph and Mercy Odunton. He was a member of the

Methodist Church of Ghana The Methodist Church Ghana is one of the largest and oldest mainline Protestant denominations in Ghana. It traces its roots back to the landing of the Rev. Joseph Dunwell on 1 January 1835 in Cape Coast, in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). The Rev. ...

. His hobbies included gardening and listening to music.

Death

Odunton died on 22 December 2004.

References