Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (popularly known as Sir John) (1957 – 1 July 2020) was 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 ...

lawyer and politician. He held several political positions including serving as general secretary 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 ...

. He was serving as the chief executive officer of Forestry Commission of Ghana before his demise.

Early life and education

Kojo Afriyie was born 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 attended

Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School is a co-ed second cycle school in Bekwai in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Notable alumni *Kofi Koduah Sarpong - Ghanaian administrator and CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation The Ghana National Pet ...

in Bekwai from where he obtained his GCE Ordinary level certificate. He proceeded to obtain his GCE Advanced level certificate from Konongo Odumase Secondary School in Konongo. He was admitted to study

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

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 ...

. He then enrolled at the Ghana School of Law where he graduated with

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. After this he was admitted as a solicitor and counsel for the

Supreme Court of Ghana The Supreme Court of Ghana is the highest judicial body in Ghana. Ghana's 1992 constitution guarantees the independence and separation of the Judiciary from the Legislative and the Executive arms of government.1992 Constitution Article 125( ...

Career

Legal career

Afriyie entered into private law practice in 1981. During the

John Agyekum Kufour 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 ...

administration, he was appointed head of legal services at the

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is the state agency responsible for the exploration, licensing, and distribution of petroleum-related activities in Ghana. History The corporation was established in 1983 to replace the Petroleum ...

. He was later made to act as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the corporation.

Political career

While managing his firm, Afriyie was also actively engaged in Ghanaian politics. He served as the general secretary of the New Patriotic Party from 2010 to 2014. He lost his bid to secure a second term to

Kwabena Agyapong Kwabena Agyei Agyapong (born 6 March 1962) is Ghanaian civil engineer and politician. Early life Agyapong was born on 6 March 1962, in Kumasi, Capital of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He was the son of Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, one of three ...

. In May 2017, while serving as the CEO of the Forestry Commission, he publicly declared that he would contest the New Patriotic Party's general secretary elections if there was an overwhelming call for him to do so.

CEO of Forestry Commission

In March 2017, President Nana Akuffo-Addo appointed Afriyie as CEO of the Forestry Commission. He replaced Samuel Afari Dartey, whose term as the CEO had ended. His appointment was surprising to many Ghanaians because of many rumours that he was linked to the position of head of the

Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is the national port authority of Ghana. Between the 16th and 18th centuries foreign trade in the then Gold Coast was undertaken from about 40 landing points scattered around the Gold Coast. By the 19 ...

. That position was given to Paul Asare Ansah. Afriyie later revealed that the rumours were true but he had rejected the appointment due to his fear of the sea. He thanked the president for the Forestry Commission appointment and believed that since he hailed from the forest zone of Ghana, he would be able to have a greater impact in that area. As CEO of the Forestry Commission, Afriyie's job was to oversee the various public agencies that form the divisions of the commission. His first assignment as head of the commission was to supervise the celebration of World Forest Day which fell on 21 March 2017.

Contempt case

In July 2013, Afriyie was summoned to the

because he had made some potentially contemptuous comments. He had criticised the Court for its actions in a criminal contempt case involving Sammy Awuku of the New Patriotic Party, and had implied that the justices' continuous mention of public radio discussions on cases that were before the court was a ploy by the court to curtail people from expressing themselves. Upon appearing before the court, his counsel, Ayikoi Otoo, pleaded with the court to be lenient and declared that his client had pleaded guilty to the charge. According to Ayikoi Otoo, "... some power for which no one had control over, entered Owusu Afriyie, because as a lawyer, he ought to have known the law". The

Peace Council National Peace Council of Ghana - The National Peace Council (NPC) is an independent statutory national peace institution established by the eight hundred and eighteenth (818) Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana, named The National Peace ...

also offered a plea on Afriyie's behalf to the court. After a brief trial, Afriyie was fined 5000 cedis or, if he defaulted on payment, a six-month prison term. Afriyie was made to sign a bond of good behaviour as well as retracting and offering an apology to the bench within 24 hours on the same platform he had used to criticise the court.

Death

Afriyie died on 1 July 2020 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, , ...

after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana The COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first two cases in Ghana were confirmed on 12 March 2020, when two infected ...

. He died at the

Korle-bu Teaching Hospital Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is a public teaching hospital located in the Ablekuma South Metropolitan District in Accra, Ghana. It is the only public tertiary hospital in the southern part of the country. It is a teaching hospital affiliate ...

where he was receiving treatment.

Funeral and burial

The funeral of Afriyie was held at Wonoo Basic School Park. Afriyie who was a member of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

was buried in Sakora Wonoo in a House Tomb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afriyie, Kwadwo Owusu 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers Ghanaian Seventh-day Adventists Ghana School of Law alumni University of Ghana alumni New Patriotic Party politicians People from Ashanti Region 2020 deaths Konongo Odumase Senior High School alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana 1957 births 21st-century Ghanaian lawyers