Joseph Henry Mensah (31 October 1928 – 12 July 2018)
was a
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 ...
ian
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
.
Education
In his early education, J. H. Mensah attended
Achimota School. He proceeded to the University of the Gold Coast (now 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 ...
) between 1948 and 1954. He then headed to the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
and
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, where he earned both a bachelor's and master's degree respectively with a specialization in economic theory and development. In 1954, Mensah became a Research Fellow in Economics at 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 ...
, a position he held until 1958.
Political career
Mensah began working as an assistant inspector of taxes in 1953 while the
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 ...
was still under colonial rule. In 1958, Mensah joined the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
Secretariat at the Centre for Development Planning, Projections and Policies, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Mensah returned to Ghana in 1961 as the Head of Agency at the National Planning Commission. The National Planning commission drew and implemented the country's Seven-Year Development Plan (1963/64–1969–70). In 1969, he was elected to parliament and became the
Finance minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
in the
Busia government
This is a listing of the ministers who served in Busia's Progress Party government during the Second Republic of Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Gu ...
until 1972,
when he was replaced by future head of state
Ignatius Kutu Acheampong
Ignatius Kutu Acheampong ( ; (23 September 1931 – 16 June 1979) was the military head of state of Ghana from 13 January 1972 to 5 July 1978, when he was deposed in a palace coup. He was executed by firing squad on 16 June 1979.
Early life and ...
after the military coup d'état.
Elections
Mensah represented the Sunyani East constituency in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th parliaments of the republic of Ghana.
2000 Elections
In the year 2000, Mensah won the Ghanaian general elections as the member of parliament in the 3rd parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana for the
Sunyani East constituency of the
Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. He won on the ticket 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 ...
. His constituency was a part of the 14 parliamentary seats out of 21 seats won by 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 ...
in that election for the Brong Ahafo Region.
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 ...
won a majority total of 100 parliamentary seats out of 200 seats in the 3rd parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana.
He was elected with 27,756 votes out of 43,128 total valid votes cast.
This was equivalent to 65.1% of the total valid votes cast. He was elected over Capt.(rtd) F. Adu Kwaku Nkrumah of the
National Democratic Congress, Shiekh Mustapha Abdulah of the
Convention People's Party
The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Conven ...
, Moses Owusu -Yeboah of the
People's National Convention, Boachie Amankwa of the
United Ghana Movement
The United Ghana Movement is a political party in Ghana. The founder is Charles Wereko-Brobby, formerly a leading member of the New Patriotic Party.
Registration
The party was officially registered with the Electoral Commission of Ghana as a pol ...
and Boniface Kojo Mensah of the
National Reform Party National Reform or National Reformation may refer to:
* National Reform Association (1844), a nineteenth-century American movement to lobby Congress to pass land reforms
*National Reform Association (1864), a nineteenth-century American movement to ...
. These won 11,550, 1,269, 1,039, 592 and 427 votes respectively out of the total valid votes cast. These were equivalent to 27.1%, 3.0%, 2.4%, 1.4% and 1.0% respectively of total valid votes cast.
2004 Elections
He was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Sunyani East constituency for the 4th parliament in the 2004 Ghanaian general elections.
He was elected with 32,035 votes out of 53,972 total valid votes cast.
This was equivalent to 59.40% of total valid votes cast.
He was elected over Justice Samuel Adjei of the
National Democratic Congress, Cubagee Raphael – an independent candidate, Rev. Nana Adjei-Ntow – also an independent candidate, Theophilus Kwame Chartey of the
Convention People's Party
The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Conven ...
, Awuah Philip of the Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere Party and A. A. Boasiako of the
Democratic People's Party.
These obtained 17,860 votes, 1,478 votes, 998 votes, 674 votes, 581votes and 346 votes respectively out of the total valid votes cast.
These were equivalent to 33.10%, 2.70%, 1.80%, 1.20%, 1.10% and 0.60% of all total valid votes cast.
Mensah was elected on the ticket 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 ...
.
His constituency was a part of 14 out of 24 constituencies won by 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 ...
in the
Brong Ahafo region in that election.
In all, the New Patriotic Party won a majority total of 128 parliamentary representation out of a total 230 parliamentary seats in the 4th Parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana.
Post Coup
Beginning in 1974, Mensah worked in the private sector both in Ghana and abroad.
He was imprisoned by the
National Redemption Council
The National Redemption Council (NRC) was the ruling Ghana military government from 13 January 1972 to 9 October 1975. Its chairman was Colonel I. K. Acheampong, who was thus also the head of state of Ghana.
Duration of rule
The NRC came into p ...
from 1975 to 1978. Although banned from political activity in 1979, he was active for the
Popular Front Party
The Popular Front Party (PFP) was the main opposition political party in Ghana during the Third Republic (1979-1981).
In elections held on 18 June 1979, PFP presidential candidate Victor Owusu won 29.9% of the vote and the party won 42 of 140 sea ...
in the
1979 elections.
He also served as Chairman of the
Sunyani District Council in
Brong-Ahafo Region (1979–1981), and proprietor of Banka Farms. Exiled in England, in 1983 he headed a group opposing the
PNDC
The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...
.
He also served on the African Advisory Council of the
African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...
from 1993 to 1997. In December 1996, Mensah contested a parliamentary seat in the
Sunyani East constituency as a member 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 ...
, which he won. He was re-elected in 2000. Prior to
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 spe ...
's election in 2001, Mensah was the Minority Leader in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
from 1997 to 2001. In addition, he served as Minister and Leader of Government Business from 2001 to 2003; Minister for Public Sector Reform and National Institutional Renewal Programme from 2003 to 2005 as well as Senior Minister from 2005 to 2006 all during the
Kufuor-led administration.
Personal life and family
He was the older brother of the former
First Lady
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
,
Theresa Kufuor
Theresa Kufuor (née Mensah; born 25 October 1935) is the wife of John Kufuor, the second President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, and former First Lady of Ghana. She is a retired nurse and midwife.
Education
Kufuor started her education at th ...
.
Death and state funeral
J. H. Mensah died on Thursday 12 July 2018 at the
37 Military Hospital in Accra after a protracted illness, having suffered a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
a year earlier.
He was accorded a
state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...
by the
Government of Ghana
The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...
on Friday 17 August 2018 at the
Accra International Conference Centre
The Accra International Conference Centre is an events venue in Accra, Ghana. Other venues include the Ghana Trade Fair Center and the National Theatre, but the Conference Centre is the most popular due to its size and capacity as compared to th ...
and buried at the new
Military Cemetery
A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations.
Definition
The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...
at
Burma Camp
Burma Camp is the headquarters of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence. The camp is in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. It retains notoriety and fear from previous Ghanaian military regimes, when civilians who entered the camp ...
.
References
External links
Joseph Henry Mensahat African People Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mensah, Joseph Henry
1928 births
2018 deaths
Alumni of Achimota School
Ghanaian MPs 1969–1972
Ghanaian MPs 1997–2001
Ghanaian MPs 2001–2005
Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009
Finance ministers of Ghana
Ghanaian economists
Academic staff of the University of Ghana
University of Ghana alumni
Alumni of the University of London
Stanford University alumni
Popular Front Party politicians
New Patriotic Party politicians
20th-century Ghanaian politicians
21st-century Ghanaian politicians
People from Brong-Ahafo Region
Progress Party (Ghana) politicians