L. K. Kodjiku Explained

Lawrence Kpabitey Kodjiku
Nationality:Ghanaian
Birth Name:Lawrence Kpabitey Kodjiku
Birth Place:Odumase-Krobo, Eastern Region, Gold Coast
Known For:First Director of the National Service Secretariat
Office:Northern Regional Commissioner
Education:Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School
Successor:Alhaji I. Haruna
Predecessor:Major R. K. Zumah
Citizenship:Ghana
Predecessor1:Lt. Col. William Adjei Thompson
Term End:September 1979
Birth Date:1931 7, df=y
Death Date:2022 (aged 91)
Office1:Regional Commissioner for the Greater Accra Region
Term Start1:1977
Term End1:1978
President1:Ignatius Kutu Acheampong
Successor1:Commander G. E. Osei
Successor2:Commander G. E. Osei
Term Start:1978
Predecessor2:Commander Joy K. Amedume
Office2:Regional Commissioner for the Ashanti Region
Term Start2:9 October 1975
Term End2:1977
President2:Ignatius Kutu Acheampong
President:John Rawlings

Lawrence Kpabitey Kodjiku (30 July 1931 – 2022) was a Ghanaian soldier and politician. He was the first Director of the National Service Secretariat from 1973 to 1975, Regional Commissioner (Regional  Minister) of the Ashanti Region from 1975 to 1977, Greater Accra Regional Commissioner from 1977 to 1978, and the Northern Regional Commissioner from 1978 to 1979.

Early life and education

Kodjiku was born on 30 July 1931 at Odumase-Krobo.[1] [2] He had his early education at the Presbyterian Middle School in Bana Hill where he obtained his standard 7 certificate in 1947. He had his secondary education at the Presbyterian Secondary School (now the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School, Legon) from 1948 until 1952 when he received his Cambridge School Certificate.[3] After his secondary school studies, he enrolled at the Presbyterian Teachers Training College, Akropong (now the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong), where he was awarded his Teachers' Training Certificate (Teachers' Certificate 'A'). He entered the University of Ghana in 1962 where he was awarded his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965.[4]

Career

Kodjiku begun as a teacher in 1955, teaching in primary, middle, and secondary schools and also Polytechnics until 1962 when he enrolled at the University of Ghana. Following his studies at the University of Ghana, he taught briefly at Prempeh College prior to his commissioning into the Ghana Armed Forces Education Corps in 1965. From 1965 until 1967, he taught at the Ghana Military Academy, he was later moved to the Ministry of Defence where he served as the Staff Officer of the ministry's Education Directorate from 1967 to 1973.

Upon the establishment of the National Service Secretariat in 1973, Kodjiku was appointed the secretariat's first director.[5] He served in this capacity until 1975. In 1975, when the National Redemption Council (NRC) was reconstituted into the Supreme Military Council (SMC), he was appointed as the Regional Commissioner for the Ashanti Region.[6] [7] He worked in this office until 1977 when he was appointed Greater Accra Regional Commissioner.[8] [9] In 1979, he was appointed Regional Commissioner for the Northern Region under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.[10] In 1992, he became a member of the 1992 Electoral Commission.

Personal life and death

Kodjiku retired from public service in 1980 and went into farming. His hobbies included reading and hunting. He was married with four children.

L. K. Kodjiku died in 2022, at the age of 91.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Current World Leaders: biography and news . 1977 . Almanac of Current World Leaders . en.
  2. Book: Africa Who's who . 1991 . Africa Journal Limited . 978-0-903274-17-3 . en.
  3. Book: Current World Leaders: biography and news . 1977 . Almanac of Current World Leaders . en.
  4. Book: Clegg, Sam . Daily Graphic: Issue 12855 March 25 1992 . 1992-03-25 . Graphic Communications Group . en.
  5. Book: Current World Leaders: biography and news . 1977 . Almanac of Current World Leaders . en.
  6. Book: Current World Leaders: biography and news . 1977 . Almanac of Current World Leaders . en.
  7. Book: Secretary, Ghana Supreme Military Council Office of the Press . General Kutu Acheampong: The Fifth Milestone, 13th January 1976-12th January 1977 . 1977 . Office of the Press Secretary to the Supreme Military Council . en.
  8. Book: The Mirror . 1803 . Graphic Communications Group . en.
  9. Book: Current World Leaders: Almanac . 1978 . Almanac of Current World Leaders . en.
  10. Book: West Africa . 1978 . West Africa Publishing Company Limited . en.
  11. Web site: Lt. Col. Lawrence Kpabitey Kodjiku . RIP Ghana . 24 December 2023.