Kojo Botsio

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Kojo Botsio, 1964

Kojo Botsio (born February 21, 1916 , Winneba , Ghana ; † February 6, 2001 ) was one of the most famous politicians and diplomats of the former British colony of the Gold Coast and in the early days of what is now Ghana. Kojo Botsio was an important advocate of the Ghanaian independence movement and was a member of the first Ghanaian cabinet after independence on March 6, 1957.

education

Botsio attended both Catholic elementary and middle school in Cape Coast . He later attended Adisadel College, where he took the Cambridge School Certificate to move to Achimota College . At Achimota College he was trained as a teacher.

Initially, Botsio worked as a teacher at St. Augustine's College and later moved to the University of Sierra Leone (Fourah Bay College) in Sierra Leone to take his bachelor's degree . In Sierra Leone, he taught at St. Edward's Secondary School in Freetown , and later moved to Brasenose College at Oxford University in Great Britain. He graduated from Oxford with a degree in geography and education.

Career

Kojo Botsio as the Gold Coast delegate at the 1955 Bandung Conference

During his studies in Great Britain, Botsio met other Ghanaians and quickly joined the independence movement, in which he played an important role. Botsio became treasurer of the West African National Secretariat . Botsio also joined the West African Students' Union with the demand for Ghana's independence from colonial power.

After studying in Great Britain, Botsio went back to Ghana and became a member of the first Gold Coast party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), with other independence fighters such as JB Danquah , Kwame Nkrumah , William Ofori-Atta and others. In 1948, the leaders of the independence struggle began to drift apart. Nkrumah then left the UGCC and founded his own more radical Convention People's Party on June 12, 1949 . Botsio and Komla Agbeli Gbedemah followed Nkrumah into the new party and became his closest confidante against the emerging opposition from old companions.

On January 9, 1950, the CPP organized a national strike of the masses, the population rebelled against the British colonial power. British products were boycotted by the masses, but the resistance should be carried out peacefully. Despite the call for peaceful resistance, two police officers were shot dead during the riot. The CPP leaders, including Nkrumah, Botsio and Gbedemah, were detained in James Fort Prison in Accra on January 21, 1950. The reason for the detention was the fatal consequences of the strike organized by the CPP leadership. This imprisonment made the CPP leadership national heroes and the number of supporters increased. After the release from prison, the CPP leadership continued to work on the establishment of the state of independent Ghana. Elections resulted in an overwhelming majority. Nkrumah, and with him Botsio and Gbedemah, became leading members of the first Ghanaian cabinet after independence on March 6, 1957.

Botsio was Minister of Trade and Labor under Ghana's Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah between 1957 and 1958. He then succeeded Nkrumah as Foreign Minister in 1958. Kkrumah had initially held this post in addition to his office as Prime Minister himself. Botsio was replaced in office by Ebenezer Ako-Adjei . Kojo Botsio was considered Nkrumah's right hand, while Komla Agbeli Gbedemah (Minister of Finance) was known as the president's left hand.

In 1961, Botsio held the post of Minister of Agriculture after Nkrumah had now become Ghana's first president under the 1960 constitution. In 1963, Nkrumah reappointed Botsio as foreign minister. He held this post until 1965.

In addition to his positions as Foreign Minister and Minister for Trade and Labor, Botsio was temporarily Minister for Education and Social Affairs, Minister for Transport and Communication and Minister for Construction.

After the coup against Nkrumah and the seizure of power by the National Liberation Council (NLC), Botsio's political career seemed over. But after the transfer of the military dictatorship of the NLC to the second republic under the government of Kofi Abrefa Busia, he became an opponent of Busia. Botsio is considered a supporter of the second military coup by Ignatius Kutu Acheampong .

Family and death

Botsio's parents were Edward Kojo Botsio from Elmina and Ama Amina from Apam.

Botsio was married to Ruth Botsio and had two children with her. His wife supported her husband's politics and was herself politically active in the women's work of the ruling CPP party. Through her trips to the rural areas of the country, Ruth Botsio made a decisive contribution to spreading the freedom movement in colonial times.

Botsio died on February 6, 2001. He was given a state burial in the Osu Cemetery in Accra.

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Botsio, Kojo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ghanaian politician, Foreign Minister of Ghana
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Winneba , Ghana
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 2001