Kwesi Abotsia Dickson (7 July 1929 – 28 October 2005) was a Ghanaian Christian

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He was the seventh President of the

Methodist Church 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 ...

and a professor 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 ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. ...

Early life and education

Kwesi Dickson was born at

Saltpond Saltpond is a town and the capital of the Mfantsiman Municipal District in the Central Region of South Ghana. Saltpond has a population of 24,689 people. Economy History Saltpond was in a state of economic decline since the landing beach was a ...

in the Central Region of Ghana. He was educated at the

Mfantsipim School Mfantsipim is an all-boys boarding secondary school in Cape Coast, Ghana, established by the Methodist Church in 1876 to foster intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth on the then Gold Coast. Its founding name was Wesleyan High School and ...

at Cape Coast. He completed his basic ministerial training at the Trinity Theological Seminary (then Trinity College in

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 t ...

) in 1951. He then attended the

, then the University College of the Gold Coast. Next he went to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

where his postgraduate education was at

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist students. It moved to Oxford in 1886 and was renamed Man ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

Career

Dickson was ordained into the ministry of the Methodist Church of Ghana at the British Methodist Conference of 1957. He served in various capacities at the University of Ghana over three decades until 1989. He has been the Head of the Department for the Study of Religions, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Master of Commonwealth Hall, the first Dean of Students and the Director of the Institute of African Studies. when he was succeeded by

Kwame Arhin Prof. Kwame Arhin, also known as Nana Arhin Brempong, was a historian and politician in Ghana. Arhin built his academic career at the University of Ghana, where he was an editor of the '' Legon Observer'' and had a long-standing association with t ...

. At various times, he served as adjunct professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at the

Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon The Trinity Theological Seminary is a Protestant seminary located on a 70-acre campus in Legon, Accra. As an ecumenical theological tertiary and ministerial training institution, it serves students in Ghana and the West African sub-region. The ...

. He was also a fellow of the

Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) is a learned society for the arts and sciences based in Accra, Ghana. The institution was founded in November 1959 by Kwame Nkrumah with the aim to promote the pursuit, advancement and dissemination ...

. He was its president on two occasions. He also worked at the

University of Swaziland The University of Eswatini (or UNESWA; formerly known as the University of Swaziland, or UNISWA) is the national university of Eswatini. It was established by act of parliament in 1982. The university developed from the University of Botswana, L ...

as a visiting professor. In 1989, he was elected as President of the Methodist Church Ghana. He served two consecutive 4 year terms ending in 1997. He has served as Chairman of the

Christian Council of Ghana The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) is an umbrella group that unites 31 churches and denominations in Ghana. The council has its members from Charismatic, Pentecostal, Orthodox and other churches. History of the Council The CCG was formed o ...

and as All Africa Conference of Churches President of the All African Council of Churches.

Hobbies

He loved

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and music and was a good pianist.

Family

He was married with four children.

Death

Dickson died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra after a short illness. His funeral and burial were attended by many notable Ghanaian citizens including

John Agyekum 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 ...

who was

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential el ...

at the time and

John Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...

who was a colleague at the University of Ghana and was to become the next Ghanaian president.

Publications

Kwesi Dickson has many publications to his name. He has authoritative works such as Theology in Africa and others on Religious exclusivism. Some of his texts were also used for

GCE Ordinary Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

and

GCE Advanced Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

curricula. Some of his works include the following: * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links and sources

AASRBulletin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Kwesi 1929 births 2005 deaths Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford Mfantsipim School alumni University of Ghana alumni Ghanaian theologians Academic staff of the University of Ghana Ghanaian clergy Ghanaian Methodists Ghanaian religious leaders Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences