In Memory Of An Educator, A Mentor And A Patriot • Celebrating H.E. Dr Richard B. Turkson

'The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest;;
Alleluia.'
[From Mfantsipim Hymn: 'For all the saints who from their labour's rest']

Before beginning the trek in mammy trucks from Kumasi to Mfantsipim, Cape Coast - in the early 1960s - we converged in the vicinity of the railway station at the bottom end of Bompata, near the Adum bridge. For each new academic year, that was how many new students met and greeted the senior boys.

Here was where, I believe, I first saw Senior Turkson. My first impression of him revealed a youngster whose confident gait reflected a purpose, one not about to allow himself to be second guessed.

At the time when most of us were uncertain and flighty - angling for some sure footing in the distant future - Senior Turkson had already won a competitive exam allowing him to exit Kwabotwe briefly to scale the wider horizon beyond the boundaries of the campus.

Cutting a calm dashing figure he seemed to know and appreciate where he stood intellectually as a student of the classics. The brief scholarship to the United States enhanced that definite image he held of himself.

He had returned to Mfantsipim a sprightly living hero, and the whole school devoted an entire evening in the assembly hall to hear him talk, to enlighten us about his discoveries farther afield. And there he was, up on the stage glowing with pride and confidence. And here we were, in a sedentary but expectant repose, looking up to him.

At particular points in his delivery, our attention was so deliberate, so glued, so spot on that you could hear a leaf drop. At other points, the joints in our rib cages erupted with explosions of laughter from his keen sense of humour. As a greenhorn, I remember that performance to this day without trying.

Indeed, I think, it was from such observations that the king makers - Headmaster F.L. Bartels, his assistant Rev W.G.M. Brandful, et al – tipped the scale in his favour to inherit the coveted head prefectship in 1962. And when he won the crown, he did not fail to excel and mentor the student population.

In remembering him, Col (Ret’d) Justus Van Lare - his form mate - said, “We all knew he would achieve greatness which was borne out starting with his appointment in upper 6 as Head Prefect.”

Now, let’s check those early impressions with his career. The milestones speak for themselves. Dr Turkson was from 1990 to 1993 Africa Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). In November 1993, he was reassigned to the newly-created post of IPPF Legal Consultant (Africa), a position he held until July 1995.

He served as a Dean of the Faculty of Law - University of Ghana, Legon; a visiting professor - Temple University Law School, Philadelphia, USA; a Commonwealth Secretariat Technical Expert attached to the Department of Law - University of Mauritius; a member of the General Legal Council - the statutory body charged with the function of regulating the legal profession in Ghana; a national president - Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana; and a member of the National Census Technical Advisory Committee (2000 Population and Housing Census).

He led Ghana delegations to meetings of the UNFPA Executive Board (1998-2000) and the UN Commission on Population and Development (2002 and 2003). He served in other delegations to The Hague Forum (1999), the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (2001), etc. His last role was as Ghana’s ambassador to Canada.

A prescient Irish headmaster at Mfantsipim (1925 – 1936), Rev R.A. Lockhart – with his focus on “Education for Confidence” - remarked at a particular speech day that one day soon the School would unleash a flurry of firsts from Ghana (then Gold Coast).

Some iconic examples from that conviction were Alex Quaison Sackey - the first African President of the United Nations General Assembly, R.P. Baffour - the first principal of the Kumasi College of Technology, and subsequently the first Vice-Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kofi Annan - the first African Secretary General of the United Nations. It is from the nest of this remarkable pedigree of selfless Ghanaian patriots that Richard Turkson evolved.

Dr Turkson and I shared our writings with each other since his appointment in Canada. Recently, with the caption, “As promised, here's another piece of mine. Hope you enjoy reading it. Cheers. Richard” he mailed me a copy of a talk delivered to the Men’s Fellowship of St. Paul’s Methodist Cathedral, Tema, on the topic: “Till Death Us Do Part: Some reflections on the law of marriage in Ghana”.

It is an honour to share his introduction, a persistent reminder of his love of God, family, and neighbour. He said, “nearly all faith-based organizations in this country place a very high premium on family cohesion, family welfare and family values.

In Christianity, for example, we are constantly exhorted to regulate our actions by the divine precepts contained in the Holy Scriptures, as in it we are taught the important duties we owe to the Almighty God Our Creator, to our neighbours and to ourselves.

“To our neighbours, we are expected to render them every kind service which justice or mercy may require, relieve them of their necessities, as far as may lie in our power to do so, soothe their afflictions and do to them as in similar cases we would wish them to do to us.”

Touching on family planning, he said, with some humour, “On the question of procreation, let us always remember that the biblical injunction to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ does not mean, unrestrained procreation to fill the entire house and spill over, in some cases, even to the kitchen. An attitude such as this is to take the injunction literally. Besides, at the time it was issued resources in the Garden of Eden was limitless.”

I wish to conclude, in the very words of Dr Turkson’s tribute - at the Wesley Methodist Church in Accra, 2003 - to our late Senior Dr Korley Collison, his form mate: “As we say farewell to our dear colleague, brother and friend, may the Good Lord constantly remind us that we must also perform our allotted task while it is yet day; that we must ‘work the works of Him that sent us, for the night cometh when no man can work’ ”.

Farewell, most beloved senior, mentor and brother.
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