Aaron Eugene Kofi Asante Ofori-Atta, (12 December 1912 – July 1978) was a Ghanaian educator, lawyer and politician who served as the fourth

Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana The Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Ghana. The current speaker is Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin. He was elected on 7 January 2021. History The first speaker of the Parliament of Ghana was Sir ...

Early life and education

He was born on 12 December 1912 at

Kyebi Kibi or ''Kyebi'' is a town and the capital of the East Akim Municipal District, a district in the Eastern Region of south Ghana, on the eastern slopes of the Atewa Range. Kibi lies at an altitude of 318 m, and, Kibi has a 2013 settl ...

Akyem Abuakwa Akyem Abuakwa is one of the four states of Akyem in 14th century Africa. Currently, it is part of Ghana. Historically, the Akyem were part of the Adansi Kingdom, which was the first nation to build buildings out of mud. They were therefore were ...

and was a member of the Ofori-Atta royal family. After attending Presbyterian elementary school, he entered

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 ...

in 1925 and later left in 1928 to join

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 ...

where he completed his secondary education in 1933. He served in various capacities at the

Abuakwa State College Abuakwa State College is a co-ed second cycle institution in Kibi, Ghana, Kibi in Eastern Region (Ghana), Eastern Region of Ghana. History The school was established in 1936 by three elders of the Methodist Church Ghana, Methodist Church at Asafo ...

and was made the school's Vice Principal and later Principal from 1944 to 1947. Later in 1947, he left for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and entered

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

where he obtained his B.A degree in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and a diploma in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

Career

Ofori-Atta was elected MP for Abuakwa Central and Begoro Constituencies. He first entered parliament house in 1954 and was appointed Minister for Communication from 1954 to 1956. He beat a relative,

J. B. Danquah Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah (18 December 1895 – 4 February 1965) was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, lawyer, and one of the founding fathers of Ghana. He played a significant role in pre- and post-colonial Ghana, which was former ...

, member of the

Ghana Congress Party The Ghana Congress Party was founded in May 1952 by Kofi Busia who also its leader. The party was formed by dissatisfied former Convention People's Party members, along with the United Gold Coast Convention The United Gold Coast Convention (UG ...

and a founding member of the defunct

United Gold Coast Convention The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) was a political party founded in 1947 whose aim was to bring about Ghanaian independence from their British colonial masters after the Second World War. The United Gold Coast Convention appointed its leade ...

to the Akim Abuakwa Central seat. He was a Minister for Local Government in 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 ...

(CPP) government of

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 ...

in the first government of

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 ...

. He also served as the Minister for Justice in the same government. He was later appointed Speaker of Parliament on 10 June 1965 in the First Republic of Ghana. He remained speaker until parliament was suspended by the

National Liberation Council The National Liberation Council (NLC) led the Ghanaian government from 24 February 1966 to 1 October 1969. The body emerged from a ''coup d'état'' against the Nkrumah government carried out jointly by the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed For ...

, formed after the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

that ended the First Republic. Ofori-Atta is the uncle of

Nana Akufo-Addo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...

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 elec ...

Death

Ofori-Atta died at the 37 Military Hospital in July 1978 in Accra.''Ghana Year Book''
Graphic Corporation, Ghana, 1978.

Notes

1912 births 1978 deaths Akan people Alumni of Achimota School Mfantsipim School alumni Ghanaian MPs 1954–1956 Ghanaian MPs 1956–1965 Ghanaian Presbyterians Ghanaian Protestants Local government ministers of Ghana Speakers of the Parliament of Ghana Convention People's Party (Ghana) politicians Kofi Alumni of Trinity College Dublin {{Ghana-politician-stub