Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur born William Edmund Davidson Amissah-Arthur was a Ghanaianeconomist, academic and politician who was the fifth Vice-President of Ghana's 4th Republic, in office from 6 August 2012 until 7 January 2017, under PresidentJohn Dramani Mahama. Previously he was Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2009 to 2012. He was sworn in as Vice-President on 6 August 2012, following vetting by the Parliament of Ghana. He was nominated by President John Dramani Mahama to be the vice-president a week after Mahama himself was sworn in. This followed the sudden death of John Atta Mills on 24 July 2012.
Early life and education
Amissah-Arthur was born at Cape Coast on 29 April 1951, the capital of the Central Region of Ghana, at the time organized as British Gold Coast Colony. His mother, Effie Amissah-Arthur is from the Hutchful family while his father, Jabesh Richmond P. Amissah-Arthur, an educator was from the Amissah-Arthur family and served as the second and longest serving headmaster of the Oda Secondary School at Akyem-Oda in the Eastern Region from September 1961 to December, 1977. Both families originated from Cape Coast and are of Fante ethnic origin. Kwesi Amissah-Arthur had five other siblings - one brother and four sisters. He attended the Aboom Methodist 'B' Primary School in Cape Coast and passed the Common Entrance examination from the Akim Oda Methodist School in 1964. He completed his secondary education at the Mfantsipim School, where he obtained the GCE Ordinary Level in 1969 and the GCE Advanced Level in 1971. At Mfantsipim, he was a resident of Lockhart-Schweitzer House. He proceeded to the University of Ghana at Legon, where he obtained the B.Sc. in 1974 and M.Sc. in 1976, both in Economics.
Economics and consultancy
Amissah-Arthur was a research assistant at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research between 1974 and 1975. He later joined the Economics Department as a teaching assistant from 1977 to 1978, going on to become an assistant lecturer in 1979. He lectured at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana between 1980 and 1988. He was also a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Anambra StateCollege of Education, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. He went into politics until 1997. He worked as a consultant for the World Bank in The Gambia. He also served as a consultant for the Netherlands' government education project in Ghana. He then worked as Senior Economist for the Sigma One Corporation in Ghana between 1998 and 2000. Between 2001 and 2002, he was on assignment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. He was a supporter and a major shareholder in the football club, the Accra Hearts of Oak S.C.
Politics
From 1983 to 1986, Amissah-Arthur served as a special assistant to the Secretary of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwesi Botchwey, in the Provisional National Defense Council government. Subsequently, he was Deputy Secretary for Finance in the PNDC government from February 1986 to March 1993. From April 1993, he continued as the Deputy Minister for Finance in the Rawlings government after the establishment of constitutional rule until March 1997. He also served on the board of the erstwhile state-owned Bank for Housing and Construction. Amissah-Arthur was appointed as Governor of the Bank of Ghana in October 2009 by President John Atta Mills. He held this position until 6 August 2012, when he became Vice-President of Ghana following the death of Atta Mills.
Amissah-Arthur died on 29 June 2018 at the 37 Military Hospital after reportedly collapsing at the Air Force Gym during his routine morning workout session. A state funeral, attended by several dignitaries, was held for him on 27 July 2018 at the Accra International Conference Centre after which his body, accompanied by a military cortège, was conveyed to the new Military Cemetery at Burma Camp for interment amid the sounding of the Last Post by army buglers and a 19-gun salute.
Legacy and memorial
The Ghanaian government renamed the Moree Senior High School as Amissah-Arthur Senior High School in his memory. A learning centre, consisting of a library and an ICT complex, located at Ohawu in the Volta Region was named in his honour. On the occasion of the first anniversary of his death, his family sponsored the establishment of a doctoral fellowship and a research chair at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana.
