Joseph W.S. de Graft-Johnson

Joseph de Graft-Johnson
1st Vice President of the Republic of Ghana (3rd Republic)
In office September 24, 1979 – December 31, 1981
President	Hilla Limann
Preceded by	New position
Succeeded by	Kow Nkensen Arkaah*
Personal details
Born	October 6, 1933 Cape Coast, Ghana
Died	April 22, 1999 (aged 65) London, England
Nationality	Ghanaian
Political party	People's National Party
Spouse(s)	Lily Anna de Graft-Johnson (née Sekyi)
Profession	Engineer, Academic
Religion	Methodist
After the overthrow of President Limann, Ghana didn't have a vice president till multi-party elections were allowed in 1992. Mr. Kow Nkensen Arkaah was elected as the first vice president of 4th Republic.

Dr. Joseph de Graft-Johnson (October 6, 1933 – April 22, 1999), was an engineer, academic and politician. He became the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana between 1979 and 1981.

Career

De Graft-Johnson practised as an engineer in Ghana. He was also a lecturer at the Buildings and Roads Research Institute of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at Kumasi. He later became the director. He was also one of the founding members of the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE). He was the President of the GhIE from 1977 to 1978.^[1]

Politics

During the era of military rule under the Supreme Military Council, he was involved in opposition to continued military rule as he was then President of the GhIE, one of many professional bodies in Ghana opposing the military government. He suffered personal attacks because of this.^[1] De Graft-Johnson joined the People's National Party (PNP) when it was founded in 1979. This was after the ban on political parties imposed in 1972 by the National Redemption Council was lifted. The PNP won the elections and he became the first ever Vice President of Ghana^[2] in the Limann government. The government was overthrown by coup d'état on 31 December 1981. He left for exile in London, England after the coup.

Death

He died on April 22, 1999 in London at the age of 65.^[3]

Publications

• de Graft-Johnson, J. W. S.; Harbhajan Bhatia; A. A. Hammond (November 1972). "Lateritic Gravel Evaluation for Road Construction". Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division 98 (11): 1245–1265. Archived from the original on May 21, 2005.

References

1. McGough, Laura J., Dr. (December 1999). "The Ghana Institution of Engineers In Perspective" (PDF). Ghana Institution of Engineers. Retrieved 2006-06-06.
2. "Aliu makes history as first Veep to earn two terms". Ghana Review International. 6 January 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-06.
3. "Mills signs book of condolence for former Veep". General News of Wednesday, 12 May 1999 (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2006-06-06.