Jacob "Jake" Lantei Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey (4 February 1946 – 20 March 2016) was a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

politician and advertising businessman. He was co-owner and general manager of Lintas W.A. (later Advantage Group) from 1974 before his assumption of cabinet roles in the government of John Kufuor from 2001 to 2007. He was national chairman of the

New Patriotic Party The New Patriotic Party (NPP; ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Ghana. Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian ...

from 2010 to 2014.

Early life and education

Jake was born on 4 February 1946 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 ...

, Gold Coast (now

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 ...

), the third son of

Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey Emmanuel Odarkwei Obetsebi-Lamptey (affectionately known as Liberty Lamptey, 26 April 1902 – 29 January 1963) was a political activist in the British colony of the Gold Coast. He was one of the founding fathers of the United Gold Coast Conve ...

, a lawyer and politician, and the second son of his Dutch wife Margaretha, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey had his primary education in Accra, before travelling to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to further his education.

Career

In 1966, he began work as a radio and TV scriptwriter, commentator and presenter at the

Ghana Broadcasting Corporation The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was established by law in 1968 with a triple mandate as a State Broadcaster, Public Service Broadcaster, and a Commercial Broadcaster in Ghana. Headquartered in the capital city, Accra, GBC is funded by g ...

(GBC). In 1969, he joined Lintas West Africa, an advertising firm, as an account executive and radio and television producer. As Client Service Manager of Lintas in Ghana in 1971, he wrote, co-ordinated and executed Family Planning, Motivation Campaign for the Ghana National Family Planning Programme. Obetsebi-Lamptey was appointed General Manager of Lintas in Ghana in 1974 and thereafter worked on a number of programmes for the company and others in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. From 1984 to 1999, he worked as a consultant to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO). Obetsebi-Lamptey was the Plenary Speaker at the World Summit on AIDS,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and Second International Symposium on the disease in Yaoundé, Cameroon. He was a past president of the Advertising Association of Ghana, and has several publications to his credit, covering topics from family planning to

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

prevention in Africa.

Political career

He was the national campaign manager of the victorious

(NPP) during the 2000 Presidential elections, which saw the first civilian-to-civilian transition of power in Ghana. Obetsebi-Lamptey was appointed Minister for Presidential Affairs (Chief of Staff) from 2001 to 2003 under President

John Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the tenth president of Ghana from 2001 to 2009. He was the fifth chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008 and his victory over John Atta Mills at t ...

in Ghana. In a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

, he was appointed Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital from 2003 to 2005. From 2005 to July 2007, Obetsebi-Lamptey served as Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations in the cabinet of President

. He resigned his post in July 2007 to campaign for the NPP presidential flagbearer nomination for the 2008 Presidential elections but was unsuccessful at the attempt. , In 2010, he was elected the national chairman of the

. He was chairman of the political party until 2014.

Death

Obetsebi-Lamptey died at a hospital in London on 20 March 2016 at the age of 70. He had been suffering from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

and in December had received treatment in

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 ...

after becoming unwell.Kobby Asmah & Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson
"Nation mourns Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey"
''Graphic Online'', 21 March 2016.

References

External links