Kow Nkensen Arkaah

Ekow Nkensen Arkaah
2nd Vice President of the Republic of Ghana (1st Vice President of the 4th Republic)
In office 7 January 1993 – 7 January 1997
President	Jerry John Rawlings
Preceded by	Joseph W.S. de Graft-Johnson*
Succeeded by	John Atta Mills
Personal details
Born	14 July 1927 Senya Breku, Gold Coast
Died	25 April 2001 (aged 73) Atlanta, USA
Political party	National Convention Party
Spouse(s)	Marian Arkaah
Profession	Marketing Executive Civil Servant
Religion	Christian
Although Mr. Kow Nkensen Arkaah was the first Vice President since the existence of the 1992 Constitution, the first Vice President ever of the Republic of Ghana was Mr. de Graft-Johnson

Ekow Nkensen Arkaah (July 14, 1927 – April 25, 2001), was a Ghanaian politician and former Vice President of the Republic of Ghana during the Fourth Republic. He was also a chief of Senya Breku.

Early life

Ekow Arkaah was born on July 14, 1927 at Senya Breku in the Central Region of the Gold Coast (now Ghana).^[1] He attended Mfantsipim School between 1941 and 1946, then the Achimota School, the predecessor of the University of Ghana.^[1] He proceeded to the United States of America where he obtained his first degree at Tufts College. He then attended Harvard University where he obtained an MBA between 1952 and 1954.^[1]

Career

Arkaah was an Assistant Sales Manager of Secony Oil Corporation of New York. He later returned to his homeland. From 1954 to 1957, Arkaah worked as a Marketing Executive of the Mobil Oil Ghana Limited. For the next ten years up to 1968, Mr. Arkaah worked with the civil service, rising to become Principal Secretary between 1966 and 1968.^[1] Arkaah was also the head of the Ghana National Trading Corporation (GNTC), a huge national trading franchise at the time, the now defunct Ghana Airways Airline and the Ghana National Procurement Agency.^[1] He has also worked as a consultant in the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Yugoslavia and Ethiopia.

Politics

Arkaah became the leader of the National Convention Party (NCP) prior to the 1992 Ghanaian presidential elections. His party formed an alliance with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of Jerry Rawlings and Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE). As part of the deal, Ekow Arkaah got to be the Vice Presidential candidate on Rawlings' ticket. Rawlings and Arkaah had a difficult working relationship throughout their four-year term. The highpoint was an alleged punch up between Rawlings and Arkaah at a cabinet meeting on December 28, 1995.^[2][3] Jerry Rawlings at least alluded that there had been some form of misunderstanding.^[4] Arkaah styled himself the "stubborn cat" after that incident.^[1]

Arkaah became the leader of the Convention People's Party formed by the merger of the NCP and the People's Convention Party. The merger was announced on January 29, 1996.^[5] Arkaah, who continued as Vice President of Ghana, stood against his own government in the 1996 Ghanaian presidential elections and lost. He was replaced in the Rawlings government by Professor John Atta Mills, a law lecturer, as Rawlings' deputy.

Death

Arkaah was involved in a road traffic accident at Cantonments in Accra. He died in the Atlanta, USA on April 25, 2001, from his injuries.^[1]

References

1. "Former Vice President Arkaah is Dead". General News of Thursday, 26 April 2001 (Ghana Home Page). 26 April 2001. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
2. Coomson, Kofi (3 January 1996). "GET OUT...BASTARD!! DR. RAWLINGS' FIST OF FURY - LEGAL REMEDY? 'WABORONO FREE'". News Back-Issue (Ghanaian Newsrunner). Retrieved 2007-04-16.
3. ".........WHAT ARKAAH TOLD THE PRESS AFTER HE WAS MAULED". News Back-Issue (Ghanaian Newsrunner). 3 January 1996. Retrieved 2007-04-16.
4. ""I MUST ADMIT THAT I AM NOT THE BEST OF DIPLOMATS " -JJ". General News of Saturday, 27 January 1996 (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2007-04-16.
5. "Arkaah says he can work with Rawlings despite". General News of Thursday, 1 February 1996 (Ghana Home Page). Retrieved 2007-04-17.