Sir Edward Okyere Asafu-Adjaye (1903–1976) was a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian political figure, lawyer and diplomat. He was the first Ashanti lawyer and Ghana's first High Commissioner in Britain with accreditation to France concurrently.

Early life and education

He was born on 14 July 1903 at

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, where his father was working as popular trader. After exhausting his business activity at Calabar, his father; Opanyin Asafu Adjaye brought him to Kumasi where he started his education at Kumasi Government Boys School. From there he proceeded to

Adisadel College Adisadel College, popularly known as "Adisco", is an Anglican boys' boarding school in Cape Coast, Ghana. It was established by Rt. Rev. Nathaniel T Hamlyn in 1910. Adisadel College is one of the oldest Senior high school, secondary schools in ...

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

where he obtained his cambridge certificate. He then proceeded to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. There he won the "Profumo Prize" for being the best scholar in law, following his performance in the university's final bar (LLB) examination.El
"Meet Sir Edward Okyere Asafu-Adjaye: First Asante lawyer, renowned diplomat and great legal luminary"
Blakkpepper, 02 July 2016.

Career

He was called to the bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1927, in that same year he returned to the Gold Coast to practice law. He joined Sir Henley Kobina Coussey's chamber to serve his law pupillage, before going into his own private practice. He establish his own Chambers: E.O.Asafu – Adjaye & Co in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) 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, , had a population of ...

in 1927. The chambers was headquartered in

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

from 1934 to 1951. He served on various private entities; he served as a director of Barclay's Bank (Ghana) Ltd, Mobil Oil (Ghana Ltd), the Consolidated African Selection Trust Ltd., the President of African Liberal Council, member of the Governor's Executive Council of

and many other boards and organisations including the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

Politics

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-43-65

After some time in private practice he entered Gold Coast politics. He first started as a prominent member of the Ashanti Kotoko Society and Ashanti Confederacy Council (now Asanteman Council) in 1934. He was a member of the Gold Coast delegation that met the British Secretary of the State for the colonies to protest against the Water Works Bill and the Sedition Bill. He, together with Dr J.B. Danquah, played a prominent role in achieving the joint Ashanti Colony Collaboration which resulted in the 1946 Burns Constitution. He was appointed as a member of the legislative council in 1946 and in 1951, was nominated as a representative for Asanteman. That same year he also served on the first cabinet of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's 1951 CPP government. In 1954 he was appointed the Minister of Trade and Labour.

International appointments and assignments

On the international front, he was sent to represent the country during the Coronation of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

in 1937 and the present

Queen of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...

;

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1953. He served on the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Methods. He also served on the African Liberal Council. After

's independence in 1957 he was appointed the first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom with concurrent accreditation to France by dr.

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

. Events that highlighted his tenure in that office include the assault on him that made international headlines of which much scholarly work have been done on; in January 1959,

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba ( ; born Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa; 2 July 192517 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic o ...

, the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, stayed at

The Ritz Hotel, London The Ritz London is a Hotel rating, 5-star luxury hotel at 150 Piccadilly in London, England. A symbol of high society and luxury, the hotel is one of the world's most prestigious and best known. The Ritz has become so associated with luxury an ...

and met with Adjaye and others in the restaurant. The event was picketed by Mosleyites, who in concern with

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

issues in Congo at the time, demonstrated outside of the hotel, displaying banners such as "RAPERS OF CHILDREN - GO HOME" and issuing racial epithets. Adjaye was attacked as he left the hotel, although it has been speculated that he was mistaken for Lumumba. He was knighted by Her Majesty

in acknowledgement of his achievements both locally and on the international front. In 1962 he was a member of a three-man (which included Sir Henry Wynn Parry and Justice Gopal Das Khosla of India) committee known as the Wynn-Parry Commission of Inquiry set up on 11 May 1962 to investigate the causes of the political disturbances in Guyana which took place on February 16, 1962, popularly known in Guyanese history as "Black Friday". He was also one of the four member group including Alva Myrdal of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(chairman,) Josip Djerdja of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(who resigned from the Group in March 1964), Ahmed Ould Sidi Baba of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and Sir. Hugh Foot of the UK, appointed by the UN secretary General

U Thant Thant ( ; 22 January 1909 – 25 November 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian as well as Asian to hold the positio ...

to examine the explosive problem of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

’s racial policies in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution of 4 December 1963.

Death

He died on 27 February 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asafu, Edward 1903 births 1976 deaths Ghanaian MPs 1954–1956 Ghanaian MPs 1956–1965 High commissioners of Ghana to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Ghana to France Nigerian emigrants to Ghana