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LIST OF GHANA MILLITARY AND ELECTED GOVERNORS WITH DATES.

Government

In this post we will be looking at the list of Elected and Military Ghana Governors with dates and republic.

INTRODUCTION

Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa, after Nigeria. The capital and largest city is Accra; other major cities are Kumasi, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi. The first permanent state in present-day Ghana was the Bono state of the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful were the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north and the Ashanti Empire in the south. Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by numerous other European powers, contested the area for trading rights, until the British ultimately established control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of colonisation, Ghana’s current borders took shape, encompassing four separate British colonial territories: Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories and British Togoland. These were unified as an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations on 6 March 1957, becoming the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sovereignty. Ghana subsequently became influential in decolonisation efforts and the Pan-African movement. Ghana is a multi-ethnic country with a diverse population, linguistic and religious groups; while the Akan are the largest ethnic group, they constitute only a plurality. The majority of Ghanaians are Christian (71.3%), with close to a fifth being Muslim and a tenth practising traditional faiths or reporting no religion. Ghana is a unitary constitutional democracy led by a president who is both head of state and head of government. Since 1993, it has maintained one of the freest and most stable governments on the continent and performs relatively well in metrics of healthcare, economic growth, and human development. Ghana consequently enjoys significant influence in West Africa and is highly integrated in international affairs, being a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Group of 24, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Ghana means “strong warrior king” and was the title accorded to the kings of the medieval Ghana Empire in West Africa—not to be confused with today’s Ghana, for the empire was further north, in modern-day Mali, Senegal and southern Mauritania, as well as in the region of Guinea. Ghana was known for its large gold usage and hence was named the Land of Gold by the Arabs during the Trans-Saharan trades.

LIST OF GHANA GOVERNORS WITH DATES

This is a list of colonial administrators in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) from the start of English presence in 1621 until Ghana’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. In addition to the Gold Coast Colony, the governor of the Gold Coast was for most of the period also responsible for the administration of the Ashanti Colony, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Protectorate and the League of Nations/United Nations mandate/trust territory of British Togoland.

Governors of the Gold Coast (1621–1751)

Portrait Name Took office Left office
Sir William St John 1621 1623
William Greenhill 1660 Unknown
  Henry Greenhill 1680 1685
Henry Nurse 1685 1695
John Bloome 1691 1697
Baggs 1697 1701
Thomas Dalby 1701 1708

Governors of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast (1751–1822)

Portrait Name Took office Left office
Thomas Melvil 23 June 1751 23 January 1756
William Tymewell 23 January 1756 17 February 1756
Charles Bell 17 February 1756 15 October 1757
Nassau Senior 15 October 1757 10 May 1761
Charles Bell 10 May 1761 15 August 1763
William Mutter 15 August 1763 1 March 1766
John Hippersley 1 March 1766 11 August 1766
Gilbert Petrie 11 August 1766 21 April 1769
John Crossle 21 April 1769 11 August 1770
Richard Miles 20 January 1777 25 March 1780
John Roberts 25 March 1780 20 May 1781
John B. Weuves 20 May 1781 29 April 1782
Richard Miles 29 April 1782 29 January 1784
James Morgue 29 January 1784 24 January 1787
Thomas Price 24 January 1787 27 April 1787
Thomas Morris 27 April 1787 20 June 1789
William Fielde 20 June 1789 15 November 1791
John Gordon 15 November 1791 31 March 1792
  Archibald Dalzel 31 March 1792 16 December 1798
Jacob Mould 16 December 1798 4 January 1799
John Gordon 4 January 1799 28 April 1800
  Archibald Dalzel 28 April 1800 30 September 1802
Jacob Mould 30 September 1802 8 February 1805
George Torrane 8 February 1805 4 December 1807
Edward White 4 December 1807 21 April 1816
Joseph Dawson 21 April 1816 19 January 1817
John Hope Smith 19 January 1817 27 March 1822

Governors of the Gold Coast (1822–1828)

  • Sir Charles MacCarthy, 27 March 1822 – 17 May 1822, first time
  • James Chisholm, 17 May 1822–December 1822, first time
  • Sir Charles MacCarthy, December 1822–21 January 1824, second time
  • James Chisholm, 21 January 1824 – 17 October 1824, second time
  • Edward Purdon, 17 October 1824 – 22 March 1825
  • Major-general Sir Charles Turner, 22 March 1825 – 8 March 1826
  • Sir Neil Campbell, 18 May 1826 – 15 November 1826
  • Major Henry John Ricketts, 15 November 1826 – 11 October 1827, first time
  • Hugh Lumley, 11 October 1827 – 10 March 1828
  • George Hingston, 10 March 1828 – 5 June 1828
  • Major Henry John Ricketts, 5 June 1828 – 25 June 1828, 

Governors of the Committee of Merchants of the Gold Coast (1828–1843)

  • John Jackson, 25 June 1828 – 19 February 1830
  • George Maclean, 19 February 1830 – 26 June 1836, first time
  • William Topp, 26 June 1836 – 15 August 1838
  • George Maclean, 15 August 1838 – 1843, second time

Governors of the Gold Coast (1843–1960)

In 1843 a governor was appointed subordinate to the Governor of Sierra Leone until 1850. After the Third Anglo-Ashanti War of 1873–74, the Gold Coast was formally declared a crown colony.

  • Henry Worsley Hill, 1843–8 March 1845
  • James Lelley, 8 March 1845 – 15 April 1846
  • William Winniett, 15 April 1846 – 31 January 1849, first time
  • James Coleman Fitzpatrick, 31 January 1849 – 13 January 1850
  • Sir William Winniett, 13 January 1850 – 4 December 1850, second time
  • James Bannerman, 4 December 1850 – 14 October 1851
  • Stephen John Hill, 14 October 1851–December 1854
  • Henry Connor, December 1854–March 1857, acting
  • Sir Benjamin Chilley Campbell Pine, March 1857–April 1858
  • Henry Bird, April 1858–20 April 1860, acting
  • Edward B. Andrews, 20 April 1860 – 14 April 1862
  • William A. Ross, 14 April 1862 – 20 September 1862, acting
  • Richard Pine, 20 September 1862 – 1865
  • Rokeby Jones, 1865, acting
  • William Elliot Mockler, 1865, acting
  • Edward Conran, April 1865–February 1867
  • Herbert Taylor Ussher, February 1867–April 1872, first time
  • John Pope Hennessy, April 1872 – 1872
  • Charles Spencer Salmon, 1872–September 1872, acting
  • Robert William Keate 7 Mar 1873 – 17 Mar 1873
  • Robert William Harley, September 1872–2 October 1873
  • Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 2 October 1873 – 4 March 1874
  • James Maxwell, 4 March 1874 – 30 March 1874, acting
  • Charles Lees, 30 March 1874–June 1874, acting, first time
  • George Cumine Strahan, June 1874–7 April 1876
  • Charles Lees, 7 April 1876–December 1876, acting, second time
  • Sanford Freeling, December 1876–13 May 1878, acting to 5 June 1877
  • Charles Lees, 13 May 1878–June 1879, acting, third time
  • Herbert Taylor Ussher, June 1879–1 December 1880, second time
  • William Brandford Griffith, 1 December 1880 – 4 March 1881, acting, first time
  • Sir Samuel Rowe, 4 March 1881 – 29 April 1884
  • W. A. G. Young, 29 April 1884 – 24 April 1885
  • William Brandford Griffith, 24 April 1885 – 7 April 1895, second time
  • William Edward Maxwell, 7 April 1895 – 6 December 1897
  • Frederick Mitchell Hodgson, 6 December 1897 – 29 August 1900, acting to 29 May 1898
  • W. Low, 29 August 1900 – 17 December 1900, acting
  • Sir Matthew Nathan, 17 December 1900 – 9 February 1904[1]
  • Herbert Bryan, 9 February 1904 – 3 March 1904, acting, first time
  • John Pickersgill Rodger, 3 March 1904 – 19 September 1910
  • Herbert Bryan, 19 September 1910 – 20 November 1910, acting, second time
  • James Jamieson Thorburn, 21 November 1910 – 29 June 1912
  • Herbert Bryan, 29 June 1912 – 26 December 1912, acting, third time
  • Sir Hugh Charles Clifford, 26 December 1912 – 1 April 1919
  • Alexander Ransford Slater, 1 April 1919 – 8 October 1919, acting, first time
  • Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, 9 October 1919 – 24 April 1927
  • Sir James Crawford Maxwell, 24 April 1927 – 5 June 1927, acting
  • John Maxwell, 5 June 1927–July 1927, acting
  • Sir Alexander Ransford Slater, July 1927–5 April 1932, second time
  • Geoffrey Northcote, 5 April 1932 – 29 November 1932, acting, first time
  • Sir Shenton Thomas, 30 November 1932 – 13 May 1934
  • Geoffrey Northcote, 13 May 1934 – 23 October 1934, acting, second time
  • Sir Arnold Weinholt Hodson, 24 October 1934 – 24 October 1941
  • Sir George Ernest London, 24 October 1941 – 29 June 1942, acting, first time
  • Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns, 29 June 1942 – 2 August 1947
  • Sir George Ernest London, 2 August 1947 – 12 January 1948, acting, second time
  • Sir Gerald Hallen Creasy, 12 January 1948 – 15 February 1949
  • Sir Robert Scott, 15 February 1949 – 28 March 1949, acting, first time
  • Thorleif Rattray Orde Mangin, 28 March 1949 – 11 June 1949, acting
  • Sir Robert Scott, 11 June 1949 – 11 August 1949, acting, second time
  • Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, 11 August 1949 – 6 March 1957.

Governor-General of Ghana (1957–1960)

In 1957, the Gold Coast Colony, the Ashanti Colony, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Protectorate and the British Togoland Trust Territory, became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations called Ghana. The Governor-General of Ghana served as the representative of the Queen of Ghana, whose formal title in Ghana was ‘Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Ghana and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Reign Royal House Prime minister
Reign start Reign end Duration
1   Queen Elizabeth II
(1926–2022)		 6 March 1957 1 July 1960 3 years, 117 days Windsor Nkrumah

Commonwealth’. The entire dominion formed part of Her Majesty’s and the entire dominion formed part of Her Majesty’s dominions until the country became a republic in 1960.

Governor-General

The governor-general was the representative of the monarch in Ghana and exercised most of the powers of the monarch. The governor-general was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the monarch. Since Ghana was granted independence by the Ghana Independence Act 1957, rather than being first established as a semi-autonomous Dominion and later promoted to independence by the Statute of Westminster 1931, the governor-general was to be always appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of Ghana without the involvement of the British government, with the sole exception of Charles Arden-Clarke, the former colonial governor, who served as governor-general temporarily until he was replaced by William Hare. In the event of a vacancy the chief justice served as officer administering the government.

Status

  Denotes Chief Justice acting as Officer Administering the Government

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Term of office Monarch Prime minister
Took office Left office Time in office
1   Sir Charles Arden-Clarke
(1898–1962)		 6 March 1957 14 May 1957 69 days Elizabeth II Nkrumah
– Sir Kobina Arku Korsah
(1894–1967)		 14 May 1957 13 November 1957 183 days
2 The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Listowel
(1906–1997)		 13 November 1957 1 July 1960 2 years, 231 days

First Republic (1960–1966)

Under the Constitution of 1960, the first constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the president replaced the monarch as executive head of state. The president was elected by Parliament for a 5-year term. In the event of a vacancy three members of the Cabinet served jointly as acting president.

Political parties: Convention People’s Party

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Elected Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
1   Kwame Nkrumah
(1909–1972)		 1960
1964[C]		 1 July 1960 26 February 1966
(deposed.)		 5 years, 240 days Convention People’s Party

Military rule (1966–1969)

Lieutenant-General Joseph Arthur Ankrah led a coup d’état which overthrew President Nkrumah and his government, all political parties and Parliament were also dissolved.

Other factions: Military

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
2   Lieutenant-General Joseph Arthur Ankrah
(1915–1992)
Chairman of the NLC		 24 February 1966 2 April 1969
(resigned.)		 3 years, 37 days Military
3 Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa
(1936–1979)
Chairman of the NLC		 2 April 1969 3 September 1969 154 days

Second Republic (1969–1972)

Other factions: Military and Independent

Denotes Speaker of Parliament and acting President

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Elected Term of office Political party Prime minister
Took office Left office Time in office
(3) Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa
(1936–1979)
Chairman of the Presidential Commission		 — 3 September 1969 7 August 1970 338 days Military Busia
– Nii Amaa Ollennu
(1906–1986)		 — 7 August 1970 31 August 1970 24 days Independent
4 Edward Akufo-Addo
(1906–1979)		 — 31 August 1970 13 January 1972
(deposed.)		 1 year, 135 days Independent

Military rule (1972–1979)

General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a coup d’état which overthrew President Akufo-Addo, Prime Minister Abrefa Busia and his government, all political parties and Parliament were also dissolved. Lieutenant General Fred Akuffo led a coup d’état which overthrew General Acheampong, then Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings led a coup d’état which overthrown the Supreme Military Council. Other factions: Military.

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
5 General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong
(1931–1979)
Chairman of the NRC		 13 January 1972 5 July 1978
(deposed.)		 6 years, 173 days Military
Chairman of the SMC
from 9 October 1975
6 Lieutenant-General Fred Akuffo
(1937–1979)
Chairman of the SMC		 5 July 1978 4 June 1979
(deposed.)		 334 days
7   Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings
(1947–2020)
Chairman of the AFRC		 4 June 1979 24 September 1979 112 days

Third Republic (1979–1981)

Under the Constitution of 1979 the president was head of both state and government. The president was directly elected and served a four-year term that expired at the next general election; a president might serve a maximum of two terms. In the event of a vacancy the vice-president served as acting president. Political parties: People’s National Party.

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Elected Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
8   Hilla Limann
(1934–1998)		 1979 24 September 1979 31 December 1981
(deposed.)		 2 years, 98 days People’s National Party

Military rule (1981–1993)

Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings led a coup d’état which overthrew President Limann and his government, all political parties and Parliament were also dissolved. Other factions: Military.

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
(7)   Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings
(1947–2020)
Chairman of the PNDC		 31 December 1981 7 January 1993 11 years, 7 days Military

Fourth Republic (1993–present)

Under the current Constitution the president is head of both state and government. The president is directly elected and serves a four-year term that expires at the next general election; a president may serve a maximum of two terms. In the event of a vacancy, the vice-president serves the remaining time as the president. Political parties: National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party.

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)		 Elected Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
(7)   Jerry Rawlings
(1947–2020)		 1992
1996		 7 January 1993 7 January 2001 8 years National Democratic Congress
8   John Kufuor
(born 1938)		 2000
2004		 7 January 2001 7 January 2009 8 years New Patriotic Party
9   John Atta Mills
(1944–2012)		 2008 7 January 2009 24 July 2012
(died in office.)		 3 years, 199 days National Democratic Congress
10   John Mahama
(born 1958)		 2012 24 July 2012 7 January 2017 4 years, 167 days
11   Nana Akufo-Addo
(born 1944)		 2016
2020		 7 January 2017 Incumbent 5 years, 274 days New Patriotic Party