President Akufo-Addo Honours 10 Pioneer Ghanaian Foreign Service Officers.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, 4th July, 2018, honoured Ghana’s first 10
Foreign Service Officers at an event at Jubilee House.
The 10 Officers, 8 of whom are dead, are Harry
Reginald Amonoo, Frederick Sigfried Arkhurst, Kwaku Baprui Asante, Frank
Edmund Boateng, Kenneth Kweku Sinaman Dadzie, Abraham Benjamin Baah
Kofi, Alexander Quaison-Sackey, Henry Van Hien Sekyi, Richard Maximilian
Akwei, and Ebenezer Moses Debrah.
According to President Akufo-Addo, these 10 young men
had the onerous responsibility of advancing and promoting the image of a
country which had recently gained independence, and was leading the
struggle for liberation of Africa from colonialism and imperialism.
“They were the most visible symbol of our country.
Prior to their selection, they were subjected to the most rigorous of
selection procedures, which ensured that their appointments were based
wholly on individual merit, and not on ethnic, religious or political
affiliations,” the President said.
Fondly remembered as the “G-10”, President Akufo-Addo
noted that the 10 persons served Ghana with distinction and dedication,
and left so many identifiable diplomatic achievements and landmarks,
that have served to enhance the image of our country.
“They achieved legendary status in the annals of
Ghana’s public service. The present generation of Foreign Service
Officers should emulate them, and draw the required inspiration from
their legacies with the determination to match, if not excel their
enviable records,” he added.
History, the President indicated, has it that the
“G-10”, as individuals or as a collective, represent, arguably, the best
collection of diplomatic talent that Ghana has ever assembled and
possessed.
“It is also a view held by many that, because of
their achievements, Ghana has become well-known and well-respected all
over the world. Successive Ghanaian diplomats, as a result, have been
inspired to enhance further our country’s position amongst the comity of
nations,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo commended the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, through its proposed Foreign
Service Institute, for incorporating into its proposed training
curricula, the study of the achievements of the “G-10”, with the view of
producing other distinguished Ghanaian diplomats.
He also expressed the gratitude of the Ghanaian
people to the families of the 10, especially their spouses and children,
who supported them throughout the tenure of their assignments, both
from close quarters and from afar, as they criss-crossed the world in
the service of the country.
“Ghana is proud to have received from your loved ones
the quality of dedicated service, which has enabled us to become the
heirs of a country that enjoys international respect and an enviable
diplomatic recognition. I think it fitting that they should be so
honoured, as they have been today, even if, in the majority of cases,
posthumously,” he added.
About the G-10
The late Ambassador Alex Quaison-Sackey, who served
as the first African President of the United Nations General Assembly,
at its 19th session, from 1964-65, is credited with having introduced
the notion of “consensus”, which has since become a favourite word,
especially in multilateral diplomacy.
The late Ambassador Ken Dadzie’s name continues to
reverberate within the circles of the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) from where he, if fate had been kind to Ghana
earlier, could have risen beyond being the first African
Secretary-General of UNCTAD, perhaps, to becoming the overall head of
the United Nations, even earlier than our illustrious compatriot, Kofi
Annan.
Having opened Ghana’s Diplomatic Mission in Moscow in
1960, the late Ambassador F.E. Boaten worked at the Foreign Ministry
between 1962 through to 1966, when he was elected the Secretary-General
of the “Accra Assembly”, which gave birth to a peace initiative known
internationally as the “World Without the Bomb”. He subsequently served
at the UN in the capacity of Permanent Representative of Ghana, and was
named by the UN as one of 27 Eminent Personalities on Disarmament, with
his name featured in the “Who is Who” publication of that period.
The late Ambassador Fred Arkhurst, who joined the
Foreign Service of Ghana, after having obtained a First Class in
Economics in Scotland, subsequently served at the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), then headed by another eminent
Ghanaian, Dr. Robert Kweku Atta Gardiner, regarded easily as the
official with the record of longest service at UNECA. Ambassador
Arkhurst devoted his life, after retiring from the Ghana Foreign
Service, naturally to the writing of books and other engagements within
academia.
For the late Ambassador K.B. Asante, his diplomatic
life was centered on multilateral engagements, having served mostly in
Europe, where he focused on the latter’s relations with Africa, the
Caribbean and the Pacific, and on the European-based UN Institutions. On
his return to Ghana, he became a public figure, who was eager to
engage, publish, inspire and promote social, political, academic, media
and other related causes.
The late Ambassador Amonoo, remembered for the role
he played as Secretary to the Aburi “Conference on Nigeria and Biafra”
in 1967, became a distinguished representative of Ghana, especially
during the time he served in Ethiopia where he became Chairman of the
Organisation of African Unity’s Committee on Refugees; Member of the OAU
Restructuring Committee; and Vice-Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.
The late Ambassador Henry Van Hien Sekyi was the
quintessential scholar, with an exceptional musical talent. As an astute
diplomat, he gave distinguished service at key bilateral Diplomatic
Missions of Ghana in Australia, Italy and the United Kingdom. Popularly
referred to as “Sir Henry”, he was one of the Foreign Service Officers
who accompanied our first President, Kwame Nkrumah, on his ill-fated
trip to Hanoi in 1966. In retirement, he became the first
Ambassador-In-Residence at the Legon Centre for International Affairs
and Diplomacy (LECIAD).
The late Ambassador Abraham Benjamin Baah Kofi is
remembered for the key assignments he played, especially on the eve of
the formation of the OAU, when he was sent, in the company of the late
George Padmore and the late Mr. Ako-Adjei, Foreign Minister, to confer
with several African Heads of States, on the issue. He also
accomplished, with distinction, his assigned task of opening a number of
Ghana’s Diplomatic Missions.
Ambassador Richard Akwei, beyond his distinguished
service as the fourth Permanent Representative of Ghana to the UN,
became the Chairman of the International Civil Service Commission and,
thereafter, became the Commonwealth representative for the training of
prospective young diplomats for South Africa.
Ambassador E.M. Debrah is a familiar face in the
Foreign Ministry where he has operated as a “Consultant-In-Residence”.
As Ghana’s first Ambassador to Ethiopia, a Conference Room has been
named after him in the new Foreign Ministry building.
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