Parliament Pays Tribute To R.R Amponsah

R.R. Amponsah

Parliament has paid tribute to one of the last surviving founding fathers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), .

He passed away on June 3, 2009 and his funeral is scheduled for September 5, 2009.

Reading the tribute, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, described as an educator, who was deeply concerned about the intellectual and professional development of the youth.

'He was an ardent nationalist, resiliently concerned about the success and progress of his nation in all spheres of its life, a patriot, devoted to the service of his country,' he added.

Besides, he said was a responsible and dependable husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle and friend to all who courted his friendship.

Tracing 's political involvement, Dr Afriyie Akoto said from 1952 to 1954, was a close associate of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and a member of the Convention People's Party (CPP).

However, when the National Liberation Movement (NLM) was founded in September 1954, he resigned from the CPP and joined the NLM in 1955 and was thus appointed the General Secretary of the NLM under the chairmanship of Baffuor Osei Akoto.

Dr Afriyie Akoto said was 'a very active opposition MP and an astute politician'.

When the splinter opposition groups in Parliament came together to form the United Party (UP) in November 1957, he was elected the party's General Secretary.

With the return of the country to constitutional rule in 1969, was, for a second time, elected the MP for Mampong North Constituency on the ticket of Professor K.A. Busia’s Progress Party.

He was appointed Minister of Education, Culture and Sports and later Minister of Lands and Mineral Resources.

served on the Council of Elders of the NPP when the party was founded in 1992. Subsequently, he was elected chairman of the Council of Elders, a position he held until his death. He was also a recipient of the national award of 'The Order of the Star of Ghana' on June 30, 2006.

had his formal basic education at the Presbyterian Lower Primary School at Asante Mampong, from 1929 to 1931; Methodist Upper School at Obuasi from 1932 to 1934, and Methodist Senior School, Obuasi, from 1935 to 1938.

He was awarded scholarship to Achimota School in 1939 before proceeding to the United Kingdom on government scholarship to study industrial design at Loughborough College at Stoke-on-Trent and pursued further studies at the Royal College of Arts in London, and graduated in 1951.

is survived by his wife, Mrs Adelaide Amponsah, four adult children, eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Story : Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah