Former Senior Minister J.H Mensah Dead

Veteran politician Joseph Henry Mensah,, aged 89, has died, myjoyonline.com has confirmed.

J.H Mensah, a Gold Coaster born in October 1928 is a founding member of the governing New Patriotic Party and served in three different ministerial positions under the John Agyekum Kufuor administration.

He was a former Minority leader and a Majority leader and held his last top government position in 2005 when he was appointed Senior minister by President Kufuor.

His working experience dates back to 1953 when he was appointed as an Assistant Inspector of Taxes by the colonial administration.

The Senior Minister of Government Business also worked as a Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Ghana between 1954 and 1958.He joined the United Nations Secretariat in 1958 as an Economic Affairs Officer at the Centre for Development Planning, Projections and Policies, in New York.

In 1961, Mr. Mensah was the Head of Agency at the National Planning commission of the Government of Ghana, which drew and implemented the country's Seven-Year Development Plan (1962 ­ 1969).

During the Progress Party (PP) administration (1969-1972), he was the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning as well as a Member of Parliament (MP).

Between 1974 and now, Mr. Mensah has worked in different capacities both at home and aboard. These include Chairman and Managing Director, Development and Managing Director, Development and Management Consultants (Ghana) Ltd; Chairman, Sunyani District Council (1978-1981), and Proprietor of Banka Farms Limited.

Mr. Mensah served as a member of the African Advisory Council of the African Development Bank (ADB) between 1993 and 1997.

In 1996, he contested the Sunyani East seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party and won in the Parliamentary elections in December 1996 to become an MP. He retained the seat in the 2000 polls.

He was the Minority Leader in Parliament during the Second Parliament of the Fourth Republic.