Solomon Antwi Kwaku Bonsu Explained

Samuel Antwi Kwaku Bonsu
Office1:Minister of Pensions and National Insurance
Term Start1:July 1965
Term End1:February 1966
President1:Dr Kwame Nkrumah
Predecessor1:A. K. Onwona-Agyemang
Successor1:Ministry abolished
Office2:Minister of Co-operatives
Term Start2:January 1965
Term End2:July 1965
President2:Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
Predecessor2:New
Successor2:Baffour Kwabena Senkyire[1]
Office4:Member of Parliament
for Adotobri
Term Start4:June 1965
Term End4:February 1966
Predecessor4:New
Successor4:Constituency abolished
Office5:Member of Parliament
for Sekyere West
Term Start5:12 June 1959
Term End5:June 1965
Predecessor5:R. R. Amponsah
Successor5:Constituency abolished
Birth Date:1921 11, df=y
Birth Name:Solomon Antwi Kwaku Bonsu
Citizenship:Ghanaian
Alma Mater:Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong

Samuel Antwi Kwaku Bonsu, also known by the name Solomon Antwi Kwaku Bonsu, was a Ghanaian politician in the first republic. He was the Minister of Co-operatives and later Minister of Pensions and National Insurance. He was also the member of parliament for the Sekyere West constituency from 1959 to 1965 and the member of parliament for the Adotobri constituency from 1965 to 1966.

Early life and education

Bonsu was born on 21 November 1921 at Asante Mampong in the Ashanti Region.[2] After completing his Standard Seven, he entered the Presbyterian College of Education (then the Presbyterian Training College) where he obtained his Teachers' Certificate 'A'.[2] He later continued at the Theological Seminary at Akropong graduating in 1941.[2] In 1954 he studied to obtain his GCE Advanced Level certificate prior to proceeding to the United Kingdom to study law at the Middle Temple, London.[3] He was called to the bar as a barrister-at-law in 1957.[3]

life and politics

Bonsu begun as a teacher at the Kumasi Presbyterian Middle School before joining the Kumasi branch of U. T. C. as a Departmental Store Manager.[3]

Bonsu became a private legal practitioner in 1959, and on 12 June that same year, he was sworn into office as the member parliament for the Sekyere West constituency.[4] This was as a result of the seat being vacant due to a law in parliament at the time that deprived members of parliament of their seat if they were unable to be present in parliament for ten (10) consecutive days.[5]

The former occupant of the seat, R. R. Amponsah, fell victim to this fate as he was detained while being trialled at the time for allegedly plotting with M. K. Apaloo to overthrow Nkrumah.[5] He was appointed deputy minister for Justice in 1960[6] [7] and a year later, he was appointed Chief of State Protocol for the Queen when she visited Ghana.[3] Bonsu served as the deputy minister for Justice from 1960 to January 1965 when he was appointed Minister of Co-operatives by the then president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.[3] [8] In June that same year, he was moved to head the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.[9] A month later, he was made member of parliament for the Adotobri constituency.[10] He served in these capacities in the Nkrumah government until Nkrumah was overthrown in February 1966.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Parliamentary Debates; Official Report, Part 2 . ii . Ghana National Assembly . 1965 . Parliamentary Debates.
  2. Ghana Year Book 1966 . Graphic Corporation . 12 . 1966 . Ghana Year Book.
  3. Ghana Year Book 1966 . Graphic Corporation . 12 . 1966 . Ghana Year Book.
  4. Parliamentary Debates; Official Report, Part 2 . 94 . Ghana National Assembly . 1958 . Parliamentary Debates.
  5. Web site: Asamoah . Obed . Obed Asamoah . 2014 . The Political History of Ghana (1950–2013): The Experience of a Non-Conformist . 50. 9781496985637 .
  6. Web site: Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1968: Hearings Before the Subcommittee... Ninetieth Congress, First Session on H.R. 10345 . United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations . 194 . U.S. Government Printing Office . 1967.
  7. Web site: The Parliamentarian, Volumes 41–42 . 343 . Ghana National Assembly . 1960 . The Parliamentarian: Journal of the Parliaments of the Commonwealth.
  8. Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts, Issues 15–16. United States. Central Intelligence Agency . I1 . 1965.
  9. Web site: Parliamentary Debates; Official Report, Part 2 . ii . Ghana National Assembly . 1965 . Parliamentary Debates.
  10. Web site: Parliamentary Debates; Official Report, Part 2 . iv . Ghana National Assembly . 1965 . Parliamentary Debates.