ASANTE, KWAKU BAPRUI
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PHOTO CAPTION: Kwaku Baprui Asante.
Kwaku Baprui Asante (March 26, 1924 – January 22, 2018) was a distinguished Ghanaian diplomat, writer, and politician whose career spanned public service, diplomacy, and intellectual thought. He is best remembered for his role as Secretary to Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and for his service as Principal Secretary at the African Affairs Secretariat between 1960 and 1966. Over several decades, he represented Ghana at the highest international levels, contributing significantly to diplomacy, education, and public administration.
Born on March 26, 1924, in Accra in the then Gold Coast now Ghana, Kwaku Baprui Asante hailed from a family that valued education and public service.
He began his formal education at the O’Reilly Educational Institute, Tudu, and later attended the Government Junior Boys’ School, Adabraka, and the Government Senior Boys’ School, Tudu, between 1927 and 1937.
He pursued his upper primary and secondary education at Achimota College from 1938 to 1942. After completing his studies, he returned to Achimota College, where he taught Mathematics from 1945 to 1948.
He later furthered his education at Durham University in the United Kingdom, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1952, and became a member of the Institute of Statisticians in 1953.
Mr. Asante’s competence and professionalism led to several high-profile appointments, including Head of Administration at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa. He later served as Ghana’s Ambassador to Switzerland at the United Nations Offices in Geneva, with concurrent accreditation to the United Nations establishment in Vienna, and as Ambassador to Australia from 1967 to 1972.
Between 1976 and 1978, he was Ghana’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Economic Community. He also served as Chief Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In 1982, he was appointed Secretary for Trade and Tourism under Ghana’s PNDC administration and later as Secretary for Education and Culture from 1986 to 1990.
Beyond public office, he contributed to national discourse through his weekly column, “Voice from Afar,” in the Daily Graphic Newspaper, later published as a book in 2003.
Kwaku Baprui Asante passed away on January 22, 2018, in the Greater Accra Region at the age of 93, following a short illness. His death marked the end of a life devoted to public service, diplomacy, and intellectual engagement.
He is remembered as a principled statesman, an accomplished diplomat, and a thoughtful writer whose contributions left a lasting imprint on Ghana’s political history and international relations.
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