Ofori Atta (1881-10-11)11 October 1881 Kyebi, Gold Coast
Died
21 August 1943(1943-08-21) (aged 61) Kyebi, Gold Coast
Spouse
Agnes Nana Akosua Duodu of Abomosu
Issue
William Ofori Atta
Kofi Asante Ofori-Atta
Susan Ofori-Atta
Adeline Akufo-Addo
Kwesi Amoako-Atta
Jones Ofori Atta
House
Ofori Panin Fie of Kyebi
Religion
Presbyterian
Occupation
Barristers' clerk
Soldier
Paramount chief
Nana Sir Ofori Atta I, KBE (11 October 1881 – 21 August 1943[1]) was the Okyenhene or King of the Akyem people and of Akyem Abuakwa, a traditional kingdom that stretches back to the thirteenth century and was one of the most influential kingdoms of the then Gold Coast Colony. He ruled from his election in 1912 until his death in 1943.[2]
Ofori Atta was educated in Basel Mission schools and at its Akuropon seminary, now named the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong. He left the seminary after two years to work as a solicitor's clerk, and then served in the West African Frontier Force, fighting during the Yaa Asantewaa War.[3] Elected Omanhene of Akyem Abuakwa in 1912, he became a member of the Legislative Council in 1916.[4]
In 1934, he led a Gold Coast Delegation to London to petition the British Parliament for official majority of Africans on the legislative council, permanent African representative on the Governor's executive council and eligibility for non-chiefs to be provincial members of the executive council. He was also instrumental in setting up multiple schools, including Achimota School or College (formerly Prince of Wales School), where most colonial Gold Coast leaders and current prominent Ghanaian leaders schooled.[5]
"Ofori Atta was the son of a senior official of the palace; his mother was the descendant of one of the founders of the kingdom.... Once in power, he was determined to return Akyem Abuakwa to its former glory."[6]
He created the Ofori-Atta dynasty by privileging education both amongst his sons and daughters, through two paths, “one firmly rooted in a concern for binding the state by the traditionally sanctioned method of multiple marriage and the other rooted in his strong case for ‘modernisation’ and ‘progress’.”[7]
^Addo-fening, Robert (23 August 2018). "Okyenhene Ofori Atta 1, A Gold Coast traditional ruler, patriot and nationalist". The Daily Graphic.
^"Nana Sir Ofori Atta - National Portrait Gallery". npg united kingdom. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
^Roger S. Cocking, The History of Ghana, 2005, p. 295
^F. M. Bourret, Ghana: the road to independence, 1919-1957, p. 161.
^Trip Down Memory Lane
^Esperanza Brizuela-Garcia, "The Past Never Stays Behind: Biographical Narrative and African Colonial History", Journal of Historical Biography 2 (Autumn 2007): pp. 63–83, p. 71.
^Rathbone, Murder and Politics in Colonial Ghana (1993), p. 41.
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