Timothy Ansah (1919-2008) 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 ...

educationist Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

and politician. He was a member of parliament for the

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal District, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region, Ghana, Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Frequently dubbed as the "Golden City" by its indigenous ...

Aboso Aboso is a town near Tarkwa, and is the capital of Wassa West district, a district in the Western Region of Ghana.

constituency from 1965 to 1966. Prior to entering parliament, he taught in various educational institutions. He was the headmaster for Nsein Senior High School (then Kwame Nkrumah Secondary School) from 1960 to 1974.

Early life and education

Ansah was born on 4 September 1919 at

Axim Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, west of Cape Three Points. Axim ha ...

, a town in the Western 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 had his early education at York Hall School in Axim. He later proceeded to Wesley College,

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 ...

and King's College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he pursued a bachelor's degree program in History and pursued a post graduate course in Diploma of Education. He won his

Cambridge Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

as an athlete for the Cambridge University competing against athletes from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

for three years.

Career and politics

Ansah returned to Ghana in 1950 and took up a teaching appointment at his alma mater; Wesley College. There, he taught Music and History. He later moved to Fijai Secondary School and in January 1957 he was appointed the assistant headmaster of the School. He served in that capacity until 1960 when he was appointed headmaster for the Kwame Nkrumah Secondary School (was later Axim Secondary but now Nsein Senior High School). He entered parliament in June 1965 representing the

Aboso Aboso is a town near Tarkwa, and is the capital of Wassa West district, a district in the Western Region of Ghana.

constituency on the ticket of 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 ...

. He remained in parliament until February 1966 when the

Nkrumah government Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister of Ghana, Prime Minister and first President of Ghana. Nkrumah had run governments under the supervision of the British government through Charles Arden-Clarke, the Governor-General. His first gover ...

was overthrown. He remained headmaster of Nsein Senior High School until 1974.

Personal life

His hobbies included listening to music, writing songs and African studies. He composed Ghanaian patriotic songs such as ''Momoane Beyennzo'' in Nzema and ''Dzin Pa Sen Ahonya''. He also participated in the contest for the selection of the National Anthem. He died on Sunday, 22 June 2008.

Legacy

The Timothy Ansah Memorial Foundation Scholarships, a scholarship offered to students from the Western Region is named is his honour. Nsein Senior High School hold the Timothy Ansah Lectures annually in his honour.

Books

''Kundum: festival of the Nzemas and Ahantas of the Western Region of Ghana'' (1999):

References