Kwabena Darko (born 23 October 1942) is an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

minister of religion In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidanc ...

and former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He owns the largest privately owned agro-industrial concern in Ghana and is listed in “Who’s Who in World Poultry”. Darko is also known by many in the sub-region as the “Poultry King” and "Akokɔ Darko" (meaning "Poultry Darko" in

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan *Central Tano languages, a language group w ...

Early life

Kwabena Darko was born on 23 October 1942 at

Bekwai Bekwai is a town and the capital of the Bekwai Municipal, a municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.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 ...

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 lost his father at an early age and had to engage in petty trading to supplement the family income. He ended up in part-time education in order to devote more time to trading because of the family financial circumstances. His mother later remarried the owner of a small chicken farm. Kwabena Darko quickly learnt the running of the farm and was an able assistant to his stepfather. He proceeded to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where he studied agriculture at the Ruppin Institute, specialising in

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

science in the late 1950s and early sixties.

Career

On his return to Ghana, Kwabena Darko worked with the Ghana State Farms Corporation. After 6 months, he resigned and joined his stepfather, who was now into commercial poultry farming. The farm expanded from 5,000 birds to 100,000 birds for egg laying within two years. He started his own poultry farm, Darko Farms and Company in April 1967.

Politics

Kwabena Darko who describes himself as Nkrumahist run for president in the 1992 election on the ticket of the National Independence Party with Naa Afarley Sackeyfio as the running mate. He came 4th with 2.8 per cent of the total votes cast. The election was won by

Jerry Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...

of the National Democratic Congress, who reportedly said that "people should not buy chicken from Darko Farms, because if they did I would get money for politics".

Christianity

Darko was reportedly a Christian from the age of about 16 years. Between 1965 and 1996, he was a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

(Elder) with the

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

. He went on to hold other positions in the church. He has been the International Vice-President of the

Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International The Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI) is a fellowship of lay businessmen. Its main purpose is to bring interest to the Christian gospel. Theologically, the organization has its roots in Pentecostalism. The headquarters i ...

(FGBMFI), (Africa), an international Christian network, from 1990 to 1995. He became the General Overseer for the Oasis of Love International Church since 1996. he was ordained as a

in 2000.

Family

Kwabena Darko is married to Rev. Dr. Christiana Darko, a director of the Darko Farms and Company Limited as well as the International Outreach Director for West Africa of The Women’s Aglow Fellowship International. They have six children, Sam, Vernon, Jonathan, Maxine, Mercy and Bernice. The first three are actively involved in running the company.

Positions currently held

*Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Darko Farms and Company Limited
- 1969–present *Chancellor,

Regent University College of Science and Technology The Regent University College of Science and Technology (often referred to as Regent-Ghana) is located in Accra, Ghana. It was registered in September 2003, and received accreditation to operate as a tertiary institution in 2004. In January 2005 ...

- 2003–present *Member, Nominating Committee of the African Prize for Leadership 1994–Present *International Secretary, FGBMFI,

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of t ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

1994–Present *General Overseer, The Oasis of Love International Church - 1996–Present *Board Member, Oasis International Training Center - 2000–Present *External Board Member, The

Bank of Ghana The Bank of Ghana ( BoG) is the central bank of Ghana. It is located in Accra and was formed in 1957. The bank is active in developing financial inclusion policy and is a member of thAlliance for Financial Inclusion History The Central Ban ...

- 2001–Present *Chairman, Sinapi Aba Trust - 1994–Present

Honours

*Grand Medal

Order of the Volta The Order of the Volta is an order of merit from the Republic of Ghana. It was instituted in 1960 and is awarded to people for their outstanding service to the country.

, National Award for his Contributions to Agriculture - 1978 *Honorary Certificate for Selfless Devotion to Charity by Christian Voluntary Society - 1978 *Award by Ghana Animal Science Association for Outstanding Contribution to the Association - 1982 *Best Farmer Award, Royal Agriculture Show, London - 1984 *Honorary Member, Ghana Science Association - 1985 *National Best Poultry Farmer - 1986 *Meritorious Award for Contribution to Charity by the Ghana National Trust Fund - 1990 *Certificate of Honor for Voluntary Service and Contribution to Charity by the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development - 1990 *The First General Superintendent Certificate of Honor

Ghana - 1990 *Certificate of Honor for Outstanding Contribution to the Ghana Feed Millers Association - 1992 *Junior Achievement of Ghana Business Hall of Fame - 1992 *Ordained as a

Minister of religion In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidanc ...

- 2000 *Honorary Doctorate of Science Degree by

KNUST , mottoeng = The knot of wisdom is untied only by the wise , established = 1952;

- 2002 *Honorary Doctorate of Divinity by Global Missions and Bible College,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

- 2002

References

External links

Profile of Kwabena DarkoDarko Farms and Company Limited
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darko, Kwabena 1942 births Living people Ghanaian Pentecostals National Independence Party (Ghana) politicians Recipients of the Order of the Volta Candidates for President of Ghana People from Ashanti Region 20th-century Ghanaian businesspeople Ghanaian agriculturalists