Kwaku Baprui Asante (26 March 1924 – 22 January 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat, government official and writer. Asante served as the Principal Secretary at the African Affairs Secretariat from 1960 to 1966. He then held several foreign service posts before being appointed a PNDC Secretary. He was Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1991 to 1993. Asante was educated at

Achimota School Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school wa ...

and later returned there to teach Mathematics.

Early life and education

Born 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, , ...

, Gold Coast, on 26 March 1924, Asante attended the O'Reilly Educational Institute, Tudu, Government Junior Boys' School,

Adabraka Adabraka is a town in the Korley Klottey Municipal Assembly, a Municipality of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was the first and the most posh neighborhood in Ghana during the British era. Education Adabraka was known for the O'Reilly Sen ...

, and Government Senior Boys’ School, Kinbu, from 1927 to 1937. From 1938 to 1942, he attended

Achimota College Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The schoo ...

Upper Primary and Secondary School, where also he taught mathematics (1945–48). He then proceeded to

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

in Britain, where he obtained a BSc Mathematics degree in 1952.

Career

Asante became a member of the

Institute of Statisticians The Institute of Statisticians was a British professional organization founded in 1948 to protect the interests of professional statisticians. It was originally named ''The Association of Incorporated Statisticians Limited'', but this was later cha ...

in 1953, before returning to Achimota College, where from 1953 to 1955 he taught mathematics.
Kwei, Rebecca (2 April 2014)
"K.B. Asante @ 90"
''Graphic Online''. . . He worked for six years at

The Flagstaff House Golden Jubilee House, or Jubilee House, is the presidential palace in Accra that serves as a residence and office to the President of Ghana. Jubilee House is built on the site of a building that was constructed and used for administrative pu ...

, and was Principal Secretary at the African Affairs Secretariat (1960–66). From 1967 to 1972, he was Ghana's Ambassador to Switzerland, also with concurrent to Australia, and from 1976 to 1978 he served as Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Economic Community.

Provisional National Defence Council government

Between 1982 and 1986, Asante served as Secretary for Trade and Tourism in the Provisional National Defence Council government led by Jerry Rawlings. Asante also served as Secretary for Education and Culture between 1986 and 1990. Between 1991 and 1993, he was High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland. Asante wrote a weekly column, "Voice from afar", in the national newspaper, the '' Daily Graphic''. In 2003, a collection of his weekly articles was published as a book with the same title of his column.

Personal life

His first wife was unknown and they had one child together, Edwin Asante. He later married Dzagbele Matilda Asante and they had five children. Asante was a lifelong congregant of the Anglican Church. He was also a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, belonging to the District Grand Lodge of Ghana under the United Grand Lodge of England.

Death and funeral

Asante died on 22 January 2018, at the age of 93. He was accorded a ceremonial burial at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra.

References

External links

* Kofi Owusu Tawiah
"K.B. Asante, the patriot, diplomat and writer"
on GhanaWeb.com, 27 January 2018

on Graphic Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Asante, K. B. 1924 births 2018 deaths Alumni of Achimota School Alumni of University College, Durham Ambassadors of Ghana to Switzerland Ambassadors of Ghana to Belgium Ambassadors of Ghana to Luxembourg Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian civil servants Ghanaian diplomats Ghanaian educators Ghanaian Freemasons People from Greater Accra Region