Kwaku Boateng (c. 1926 – 1 May 2006) 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 ...

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 ...

and barrister who was a state minister in the First Republic.

Early life and education

Boateng was born to Opanin Acheampong and Madam Anima Acheampong of

Old Tafo Old Tafo is the oldest town in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional area in the Abuakwa North Municipality in the Eastern Region of south Ghana. It is the home of the famous Ohum Festival, the only festival widely celebrated by the people of Akyem A ...

in the Akyem Abuakwa. He started schooling at the Old Tafo Primary School and continued at the Begoro Senior School for his middle school education. 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 ...

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

in 1941 and was there until 1944 when he was transferred to the Presbyterian Secondary School at

Odumase Krobo Krobo Odumase is a town and capital of Lower Manya Krobo Municipal District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School was formerly located here. Prominent sites The town is a proposed site for the construction of ...

where he received his Cambridge School Certificate. He proceeded to

Fourah Bay College Fourah Bay College is a public university in the neighbourhood of Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded on 18 February 1827, it is the first western-style university built in Sub-Saharan Africa and, furthermore, the first university-le ...

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

in 1948 but left in 1949 and enrolled at King's College London, King's College London University. He graduated in 1954 obtaining his Bachelor of Laws Degree and was called to the English Bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1955. He was called to the Ghana Bar later that year and subsequently entered La Chambers as a junior practitioner. He began his own private practice in 1956 and remained in private practice until December that year when he was elected Member of Parliament for the Tafo constituency.

Politics

Kwaku Boateng was a member of 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 ...

and served in various capacities in the

Nkrumah government Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister and first President of Ghana. Nkrumah had run governments under the supervision of the British government through Charles Arden-Clarke, the Governor-General. His first government under colonial r ...

. He was Information Minister and in 1961, became Interior Minister. He was Education Minister under

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 ...

from May 1964.

Exile

After the 24 February 1966

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 ...

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 ...

, he along with other members of the government went into exile. 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with his family.

Other activities

While Minister of Education, He opened the Bible House, headquarters of the

Bible Society of Ghana The Bible Society of Ghana is a non-denominational, non-governmental Christian organization based in Ghana. The organization is registered under the Trustees Act, 1962 of the Republic of Ghana. It is the largest Bible distribution organization in G ...

on behalf of Kwame Nkrumah in 1965. He was a trustee of the Bible Society until his death. Towards the end of his political career, Boateng became an evangelist.

Family

Paul Boateng Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng (born 14 June 1951) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first Black Cabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appo ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Labour politician, who was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Brent South Brent South was a constituency for the House of Commons of the UK Parliament; the areas of the constituency chiefly fell into the new Brent Central for the 2010 general election which was the date of its abolition. It elected one member (MP) by ...

from

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, is his son. Kwaku Boateng's wife was Mrs. Eleanor Boateng who was

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

. His brothers are Andrew Boateng, of New York, and Francis Boateng, Lieutenant of the Los Angeles Police Department (in the Commercial Crimes Division). In the early 1950s, Kwaku Boateng had an affair with a young woman, bearing him a son Isaac Boateng. Kwaku Boateng and

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 ...

were related by marriage.

Death

Kwaku Boateng died on 1 May 2006 at Paul's home in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

during Paul's stint as High Commissioner to

. He was 80 years old.