Joseph Yaw Manu was a Ghanaian

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and politician of the First Parliament of the Second Republic representing the Mampong South Constituency in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He was a deputy minister for transport during the second republic.

Early life and education

Joseph was born on 21 August 1922 at Nsuta in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...

of Ghana. He was a former pupil of Adisadel College,

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

Career and politics

Joseph joined the government civil service after his secondary education. He worked as a civil servant until 1955 when he resigned to work for the United Africa Company Limited as a store manager at

Nandom Nandom is the capital town of the Nandom Municipal of the Upper West Region of Ghana. Nandom town and the multiple villages that surround it to the north, south, east, and west are inhabited by Dagara people. The Dagara of the Nandom municipal a ...

in the Upper Region (now in the

Upper West Region The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest set ...

) of Ghana.

1963 Treason Trial

In 1959 while at Nandom he was alleged have assisted Dr.

Kofi Abrefa Busia Kofi Abrefa Busia (born 11 July 1913 – 28 August 1978) was a Ghanaian political leader and academic who was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972. As a nationalist leader and prime minister, he helped to restore civilian government to the ...

(who was then a member of the opposition and later became Prime Minister of Ghana in the second republic) to leave Ghana to Bobogyiraso in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

(Upper Volta) via the Ghana border in the Upper West Region. In January, 1960, he returned to

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

to renew his contract with the United Africa Company Limited to work in Kumasi as a store manager. As a member of the United Party he fled to

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

to seek asylum on January 7, 1961. According to him, members of his party were being arrested and detained so he fled for his life knowing the assistance he had offered Dr. Busia (who was a leader of the party) in Nandom. He was arrested on 7 November 1962 while at the Accra airport while on his way from the Ivory Coast unroute to

Lome Lome may refer to: Places * Lomé, the capital and largest city of Togo * Lome (woreda), a woreda in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia * Lome, Slovenia, a dispersed settlement in the Municipality of Idrija in the Inner Carniola region Other uses * Lom ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. He was accused of being a part of a plot that was hatched in Lome to assassinate Dr.

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

. Joseph Yaw Manu was accused of making frequent trips to Togo while in exile at the Ivory Coast to attend meetings that were organised by the United Party. The allegation was that these meetings were organised to plan the overthrow of the then

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 ...

and the assassination of the then president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and that these plans were eventually executed in the form of the Kulungugu attack in the then Upper Region of Ghana on 1 August 1962 when a hand grenade was thrown at the president by a person or people who were believed to have been working for

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 ...

who was believed to have been the main brain behind the attack. He was found guilty and sentenced to death on charges of conspiracy to commit treason and treason. He was imprisoned in 1963 and was released in 1966 when the

was overthrown

Second Republic

In 1969 he was elected to represent the Mampong South constituency in the second republic parliament on the ticket of the Progress Party. That same year he was appointed deputy minister (ministerial secretary) for transport and communications. He served in that capacity together with

Solomon Osei-Akoto Solomon Osei-Akoto (3 June 1930 – July 2015) was a Ghanaian politician. He was member of parliament for Birim-Abirem from 1969 to 1972 and also served as ministerial secretary (deputy minister) for transport and communication under the Busia ...

until 1972 when 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 ...

was overthrown.

Fourth Republic

In 1992, during the Fourth Republic, he was a founding member of the NPP.

References