Reginald Reynolds Amponsah (30 December 1919 – 3 June 2009) was a Ghanaian potter and politician of the first Parliament of the Second Republic representing the

Mampong Mampong is a town and the capital of the Mampong Municipal District, Mampong Municipal in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. As of 2012, the town has a population of 42,037 people. The town is home to the ''Mamponghene'', Nana Osei Bonsu II. Histo ...

North constituency in the Ashanti region of

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 ...

. He was a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the

Busia government This is a listing of the ministers who served in Busia's Progress Party government during the Second Republic of Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the ...

Education

Amponsah completed his secondary education at the

Achimota School Achimota School (Help:IPA/English, /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra Reg ...

in 1942. He was the school prefect for his year. Among his mates there were

Victor Owusu Victor Owusu (26 December 1923 – 16 December 2000) was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He served as Attorney General and Minister for Justice on two occasions which were under the NLC and then Busia regime and also became Minister for Forei ...

, K. B. Asante, and Silas Dodu. He was awarded a scholarship to study pottery at

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire and one of the largest cities of ...

in the

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 ...

Politics

First republic

Amponsah was in opposition with the United Party in the first republic.

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 ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, he was accused of plotting to overthrow the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGC ...

government along with Victor Owusu, Apaloo,

William Ofori Atta William Ofori Atta (10 October 1910 – 14 July 1988), popularly called "Paa Willie", was a Ghanaian founding member of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and one of the founding fathers of Ghana as one of " The Big Six" detained by the ...

, Dzenkle Dzewu

Joe Appiah Joseph Emmanuel Appiah, MP ( ; 16 November 1918 – 8 July 1990)Eric Pace"Joe Appiah Is Dead; Ghanaian Politician And Ex-Envoy, 71" ''The New York Times'', July 12, 1990. was a Ghanaian lawyer, politician and statesman. Biography He was born ...

and Major Awhaitey. During a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

interview, he recalled his arrest in 1958: Amponsah was jailed without trial under the Preventive Detention Act. He stayed there from 1958 until the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

of 24 February 1966 which brought down the

Second republic

Amponsah was appointed by

Kofi Abrefa Busia Kofi Abrefa Busia (11 July 1913 – 28 August 1978) was a Ghanaian political leader and academic who was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972. As a leader and prime minister, he helped to restore civilian government to the country follow ...

as Minister for Lands, Mineral Resources, Forestry and Wildlife in his Progress Party

. He was later appointed

Education minister An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and initiated the process for reforms in basic education in Ghana.

Fourth republic

During the fourth republic, he was the Chairman of the Council of Elders 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 ...

(NPP). He was influential in uniting various factions within the NPP leading up to the 2008 presidential and

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

elections.

Other activities

Amponsah was chairman of the now-defunct

Ghana Airways Ghana Airways Limited was the flag carrier of Ghana, with its main base of operation and hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra. The airline ceased operations in 2004, although plans were discussed to revive it in 2020 in partnership with ...

airline in the 1960s.

Personal life

Amponsah was born at Daaman near

Asante Mampong Mampong is a town and the capital of the Mampong Municipal in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. As of 2012, the town has a population of 42,037 people. The town is home to the ''Mamponghene'', Nana Osei Bonsu II. History Agona-Akrofoso, ofte ...

in the Sekyere West District of the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...

of Ghana. He was married with four children. He was buried on 3 September 2009 at Adudwan, also near Asante Mampong.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amponsah, Reginald Reynolds 1919 births 2009 deaths Ghanaian MPs 1969–1972 Alumni of Achimota School Government ministers of Ghana United Party (Ghana) politicians New Patriotic Party politicians Politicians from Ashanti Region Ghanaian civil servants Progress Party (Ghana) politicians African potters Leaders of organizations 20th-century Ghanaian politicians