Alhaji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

Roland Issifu Alhassan (September 15, 1935 – April 14, 2014) was a

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 ...

ian

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 ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. Alhassan was a founding member 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 ...

(NPP), specifically in the country's Northern Region.

Career

Alhassan was a commercial farmer who cultivated rice and maize.

Political career

He served as an MP for Tolon-Kumbungu from 1969 to 1972 and 1979–1981. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, Alhassan was a candidate for

Vice President of Ghana The vice-president of Ghana is the second-highest officer in the Government of Ghana. The vice-president, together with the President of Ghana, is directly elected by the people through popular vote to serve a four-year term in office. The vice- ...

as the running mate of presidential hopeful,

Albert Adu Boahen Albert Kwadwo Adu Boahen (24 May 1932 – 24 May 2006) was a Ghanaian academic, historian, and politician. He was an academic at the University of Ghana from 1959 to 1990, from 1971 onwards as a professor. As a politician, he notably was a can ...

. He also served as Ghana's ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2006 during the administration of former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

John 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 sp ...

. In addition to his political career, Alhassan was also the first person from

Northern Ghana The Northern Region is one of the sixteen regions of Ghana. It is located in the north of the country and was the largest of the sixteen regions, covering an area of 70,384 square kilometres or 31 percent of Ghana's area until December 2018 when ...

to be called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and become a lawyer.

Personal life

He was married to Mrs. Jane Alhassan and they had six children. He was an Islamic Scholar.

Honor

Alhassan received the

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.

for his service to Ghana in 2008.

Death

Roland Issifu Alhassan died from a short illness at 37 Military Hospital 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, , ...

, Ghana, on 14 April 2014. He passed at the age of 87. He was buried in his hometown of

Kumbungu Kumbungu is a town in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region of Ghana. Kumbungu is the capital of Kumbungu district. As of 2010, fertility rate in Kumbungu stood at 3.6 (above the national average of 3.5) and had a total population of 39,341 ...

Tolon-Kumbungu District Tolon-Kumbungu District is a former district that was located in Northern Region, Ghana.Tolon-Kumbungu District

, Northern Region.

References

1935 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers New Patriotic Party politicians Ghanaian MPs 1969–1972 Ghanaian MPs 1979–1981 Ambassadors of Ghana to Germany People from Northern Region (Ghana) Dagomba people {{Ghana-diplomat-stub