Edward Akufo-Addo
{{short description|President of Ghana from 1970 to 1972}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Edward Akufo-Addo
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GHA|JSC|size=100%}}
| image = Akufo_Addo.jpg
| caption = Edward Akufo-Addo
| order = 4th
| office = President of Ghana
| primeminister = Kofi Abrefa Busia
| term_start = 31 August 1970
| term_end = 13 January 1972
| predecessor = Nii Amaa Ollennu (acting)
| successor = Ignatius Kutu Acheampong (as Head of State)
| order2 = 3rd
| office2 = Chief Justice of Ghana
| term_start2 = 1966
| term_end2 = 1970
| predecessor2 = J. Sarkodee-Addo
| successor2 = Edmund Alexander Lanquaye Bannerman
| president3 = Kwame Nkrumah
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| order3 = Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana
| term_start3 = 1962
| term_end3 = 1964
| birth_date = {{birth date|1906|6|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Dodowa, Gold Coast
| death_date = {{death date and age|1979|7|17|1906|6|26|df=y}}
| constituency =
| party = Independent
United Gold Coast Convention
| spouse = Adeline Y. Akufo-Addo (née Nana Yeboakua Ofori-Atta) (d. 2004)
| children = 4, including Nana Akufo-Addo
| profession = {{hlist|Judge|Lawyer}}
| blank1 = Religion
| data1 = Presbyterian
| nationality = Ghanaian
| education = Presbyterian Training College, Akropong
Achimota College
St Peter's College, Oxford
Middle Temple
| signature =
| footnotes = *Ceremonial President with executive powers vested in Prime Minister
}}
Edward Akufo-Addo {{post-nominals|country=GHA|JSC}} (26 June 1906 – 17 July 1979){{Cite journal|last=Goldsworthy|first=David|date=1973|title=Ghana's Second Republic: A Post-Mortem|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/720579|journal=African Affairs|volume=72|issue=286|pages=8–25|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096326|jstor=720579|issn=0001-9909|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|title=August 28, 1970: Edward Akuffo-Addo is named President of the 2nd Republic|url=https://www.eaumf.org/ejm-blog/2017/8/28/august-28-1970-edward-akuffo-addo-is-named-president-of-the-2nd-republic|date=28 August 2017|access-date=13 August 2020|work=Ghana History Moments|publisher=Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation|language=en-US}} was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the "Big Six" leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana who engaged in the fight for Ghana's independence.{{Cite web|title=Ghana pays tribute to founders' - Graphic Online|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/ghana-pays-tribute-to-founders.html|first=Timothy|last= Ngnenbe|date=4 August 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=www.graphic.com.gh|language=en-gb}} He became the Chief Justice (1966–70), and later ceremonial President (1970–72), of the Republic of Ghana.{{cite web|title=Edward Akufo-Addo|url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/pop-up.php?ID=123|publisher=Ghana Web|access-date=30 January 2014}} He is the father of the former (executive) President of Ghana, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo.{{ cite web | url=
https://www.modernghana.com/amp/news/1021213/big-six-enduring-lessons-from-the-founding-father.html | title= Big Six Enduring Lessons From The Founding Fathers Of Ghana | date= 6 August 2020 | access-date=27 August 2021 }}
Early life and education
Akufo-Addo was born on 26 June 1906 at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region to William Martin Addo-Danquah and Theodora Amuafi. Both of his parents were from the southern Ghanaian town of Akropong.{{cite book |date=2 February 2012 |title=Dictionary of African Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ&q=Edward+Akufo-Addo+born&pg=PA154 |publisher=OUP USA |page=154 |isbn=978-0-195-38207-5 }} He had his primary education at Presbyterian Primary and Middle Schools at Akropong. He continued to Presbyterian Training College, Akropong and Abetifi Theological Training College. In 1929, he entered Achimota College, where he won a scholarship to St Peter's College, Oxford. He studied mathematics, Politics and Philosophy and he went on to graduate with honours in philosophy and politics in 1933.
Pre-political career
Akufo-Addo was called to the Middle Temple Bar, London, UK, in 1940 and returned to what was then the Gold Coast to start a private legal practice a year later in Accra.
Early political career
In 1947, he became a founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and was one of the "Big Six" (the others being Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Kwame Nkrumah, Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey and William Ofori Atta) detained after disturbances in Accra in 1948. From 1949 to 1950, he was a member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council and the Coussey Constitutional Commission.
Post-independence career
After independence (1962–64), Akufo-Addo was a Supreme Court Judge, one of three judges who sat on the treason trial involving Tawia Adamafio, Ako Adjei and three others after the Kulungugu bomb attack on President Kwame Nkrumah and for doing so was dismissed with fellow judges for finding some of the accused not guilty.
From 1966 to 1970, Akufo-Addo was appointed Chief Justice by the National Liberation Council (NLC) regime, as well as Chairman of the Constitutional Commission (which drafted the 1969 Second Republican Constitution).[http://www.oldachimotan.net/news/detail/40 "Akora Justice Edward Akufo-Addo"], Old Achimotan Association. He was also head of the NLC Political Commission during this same time period.
From 31 August 1970 until his deposition by coup d'état on 13 January 1972, Akufo-Addo was President of Ghana in the Second Republic. Real power rested with the prime minister, Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia. On 17 July 1979, Akufo-Addo died of natural causes.[http://web.ghananation.com/leaders/ad.asp?blurb=23 "Edward Akufo-Addo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011063759/http://web.ghananation.com/leaders/ad.asp?blurb=23 |date=11 October 2013 }}, Ghana Nation.
Personal life
Adeline Yeboakwa Akufo-Addo was the wife of Edward Akufo-Addo{{cite web |url=https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/person/Edward-Akufo-Addo-123 |website=mobile.ghanaweb.com
|publisher=GanaWeb
|title=Ghana Famous People: Edward Akufo-Addo
|access-date=7 September 2024}} and they had four children.
Awards and honors
- Honorary Doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1971.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://articles.ghananation.com/articles/flagbearers-of-ghana/3012-dr-edward-akufo-addo.html "Dr. Edward Akufo Addo"], Ghana Nation, 15 November 2011.
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{{succession box|title=Chief Justice of Ghana|before=J. Sarkodee-Addo|after=Edmund A.L. Bannerman|years=1966–1970}} –
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{{succession box|title=President of Ghana|before=Nii Amaa Ollennu|after=Gen. I. K. Acheampong|years=1970–1972}}
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{{Heads of State of Ghana}}
{{Chief Justices, Ghana}}
{{The Big Six}}
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Category:20th-century Ghanaian judges
Category:Ghanaian Presbyterians
Category:Alumni of Achimota School
Category:Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford
Category:Members of the Middle Temple
Category:United Gold Coast Convention politicians
Category:Politicians from Greater Accra Region