Harry Sawyerr

{{Short description|Ghanaian politician (1926–2013)}} {{about||the Sierra Leonean theologian|Harry Sawyerr (theologian)|similar names|Harry Sawyer (disambiguation){{!}}Harry Sawyer}} {{Use Ghanaian English|date=January 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Harry Sawyerr | honorific_suffix = F.R.I.C.S. , F.R.V.A. , F.I.AR.B. , F.R.S.H. , CV | image = File:Ghanaian_politician_Harry_Sawyerr.jpg | alt = | caption = | order 2 = | office2 = Minister for Education | term_start2 = 1993 | term_end2 = 1997 | president2 = Jerry Rawlings | predecessor2 = Alex Ababio | successor2 = Esi Sutherland-Addy | constituency2 = | majority2 = | order3 = | office3 = Minister for Transport and Communications | term_start3 = September 1979 | term_end3 = 31 December 1981 | president3 = Hilla Limann | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | constituency3 = | majority3 = | constituency_MP = Osu-Klottey | parliament = Ghana | majority = | term_start = September 1969 | term_end = 13 January 1972 | predecessor = | successor = | birth_name = Henry Romulus Sawyerr | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1926|04|25}} | birth_place = Abokobi, Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2013|11|08|1926|04|25}} | death_place = Accra, Ghana | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = United National Convention {{small|(1979 – 1981)}}<br/> New Generation Alliance {{small|(1992)}}<br/> National Democratic Congress {{small|(1992-2013)}} | other_party = | spouse = Esther Sawyerr | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | education = Accra Academy | alma_mater = University College of Estate Management | occupation = Politician, <br/>surveyor,<br/> valuer | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Henry Romulus Sawyerr''', {{post nominals|post-noms=CV}} (25 April 1926 – 8 November 2013) was a Ghanaian politician and surveyor. Under the Fourth Republic, he was Minister for Education from 1993 to 1997 in Jerry Rawlings' first presidential term of office. In the Second Republic, Sawyerr was Member of Parliament (MP) for Osu-Klottey as a non-party candidate, the only non-party candidate elected. In the Third Republic, he was again elected MP but gave up the seat to be in Hilla Limann's cabinet as Minister for Transport and Communications from 1979 to 1981. He was nominated by Limann despite not belonging to Limann’s political party.

==Early life and education== Harry Sawyerr was born on 25 April 1926 in Abokobi, Accra, in the Ga East District, to Kwao Sawyerr and Fredericka Naa Awula Akua Lokko.<ref name=Hansard>[http://www.parliament.gh/publications/30/722 "Commemorative Tribute to Henry Romulus Sawyerr (a.k.a Harry Sawyerr)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916210407/http://www.parliament.gh/publications/30/722 |date=16 September 2016 }}, ''The Hansard'', Official Report for 18 December 2013, Parliament of Ghana.</ref> Sawyerr had his elementary education at the Presbyterian Primary School at Abokobi from 1932 to 1938, continuing in 1938 to the Salem School at Osu. He studied at Accra Academy for his secondary education from 1942 to 1946. He entered Achimota College in 1947, but on the sudden death of his father that year, Sawyerr's degree studies ended due to lack of funds.<ref name=Hansard /> Sawyerr became a Learner Valuer at the Lands Department from 1951 to 1953.<ref name=Hansard /> He studied estate management in England at the University College of Estate Management from 1953 to 1955,<ref name=Hansard /> becoming a certified associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, in England.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Henry Romulus Sawyerr|url=https://odarkor.org/profile/-LO6oKnkqRfq3BpFZEBe|website=odarkor.org|access-date=2020-05-25}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Career== He worked as a District Valuer at the Lands Department in Accra from 1955 to 1958, then left public service to establish a private consultancy from 1958 to 1962. In 1962, Sawyerr was made the City Valuer at the Kumasi City Council, but after only a year, he left for Nigeria where he worked as Chief Federal Lands Officer from 1963 to 1967 as the first black Chief Federal Lands Officer in Nigeria.<ref name=Hansard /> On his return to Ghana, Sawyerr went into private practice under the firm Sawyerr and Co., where he served as managing director. Sawyerr was the first president of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors. He served two terms spanning 1969 to 1971.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ghisonline.org/21/118/Past-Presidents-of-the-Institution.html|title=Ghana Institute of Surveyors - Past Presidents|publisher=Ghana Institute of Surveyors|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226023720/http://www.ghisonline.org/21/118/Past-Presidents-of-the-Institution.html|archive-date=26 February 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref> He was Convener of the Association of Recognised Professional Bodies (ARPB), from 1971 to 1979 and led the organisation to object to military governance in Ghana.<ref name="Sawyerr">{{cite news |url= https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/parliament-pays-tribute-to-sawyerr.html|location=Accra, Ghana|title= Parliament pays tribute to Sawyerr |first=Emmanuel |last=Adu-Gyamerah|date= 21 December 2013 |access-date=19 December 2023|newspaper=Daily Graphic}}.</ref> In March 1983, the PNDC government appointed Sawyerr as chairman of the newly-established Land Valuations Board.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sawyerr heads Lands Body|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAwbx_PKGxsC&dq=land+valuation+board+and+harry+sawyerr&pg=RA31-PA2 |journal= Ghana News|date= March 1983|volume=12|number=3 |page=2}}</ref>

==Politics== His political career began as a member of the Ghana Congress Party led by Kofi Abrefa Busia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vieta |first=K. T. |title=The Flagbearers of Ghana: Profiles of One Hundred Distinguished Ghanaians, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uw0OAQAAMAAJ&q=T+k+Aboagye |date=1999 |publisher= Ena Publications |isbn=9789988001384 }}</ref>

Sawyerr was made a member of the 1969 Constituent Assembly that drew up the 1969 Constitution for the Second Republic of Ghana. He contested the 1969 parliamentary election in the Osu-Klottey constituency as a non-party candidate and won.<ref name=":1969">{{cite news|title=12 to contest election as non-party candidates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEBHwxSjigcC&q=harry+sawyerr+and+accra+academy&pg=PT1|work=The Daily Graphic |publisher=Graphic Communications Group|date=30 July 1969}}</ref> He was the only non-party candidate to win a seat in the Parliament of the Second Republic.<ref name=register>{{Cite book|title=Ghana Parliamentary Register 1969-70|publisher=Office of the National Assembly|year=1969|location=Accra|pages=}}</ref>

At the onset of the Third Republic, he was a founding member and national treasurer of the United National Convention (UNC) whose flagbearer was William Ofori-Atta. Sawyerr stood for election to parliament at the Osu-Klottey constituency on the ticket of the UNC.<ref>{{cite news|title=UNC is not for Vain Promises|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmW8zpt1TNUC&q=Sawyerr+and+William+Ofori-Atta&pg=PA3|work=The Daily Graphic|publisher=Graphic Communications Group|date=30 April 1979}}</ref> He won the parliamentary seat but gave it up to serve as Minister for Transport and Communications from 1979 to 1981 in the Limann government, as the Third Republic Constitution did not permit parliament members to become cabinet ministers.<ref>{{cite journal| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEIuAQAAIAAJ&q=bye+elections| title = Bye-elections fixed for November 16|journal= Ghana News| volume = 8|pages = 6|year = 1979}}</ref>

In 1992, Sawyerr and veteran politicians; Sam Okudzeto, Patrick Quaidoo and E. A. K. Akuoko formed the New Generation Alliance as a political movement in anticipation of a democratic return. Sawyerr soon broke away from the party.<ref>{{cite book|title= Ghana Transition To Democracy|author= Kwame Akon Ninsin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7zGfAAAAMAAJ&q=harry+sawyerr|publisher=CODESRIA |year=1998 |page= 84 |isbn=9782869780910}}</ref> Sawyerr joined the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 1992, and was a member of its first national executives as party Vice Chairman. He was the Chairman of the NDC's 1992 National Campaign Committee.<ref>{{cite book |last=Asamoah |first=Obed |author-link=Obed Asamoah |date=2014 |title=The Political History of Ghana (1950–2013): The Experience of a Non-Conformist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O28ZBQAAQBAJ&dq=harry+sawyerr+and+sam+okudzeto&pg=PA435|page=435|publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781496985637 }}</ref> In government, he served as Minister for Education in the Rawlings government from 1993 to 1997. Prior to this, he had been the Executive Chairman of the University of Ghana Medical School since 1990. He was the first Minister for Education in the Fourth Ghanaian Republic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adeanet.org/adeaPortal/adea/publications/docs/Country%20led%20ghana-eng.pdf |title=Country-led Aid Coordination in Ghana |access-date=28 May 2011 |publisher=Association for the Development of Education in Africa |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330105401/http://www.adeanet.org/adeaPortal/adea/publications/docs/Country%20led%20ghana-eng.pdf |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> In 1997, Sawyerr was reassigned as a member of the Council of State during the 2nd presidential term of Rawlings, on which he served until 2000.<ref name=":daily">{{cite news|title=Harry Sawyer is dead|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/harry-sawyerr-is-dead.html|location=Accra, Ghana|newspaper=Daily Graphic|date=9 November 2013}}</ref> He was Vice Chairman of the council of elders of the NDC from 2010 to 2012.<ref name=":daily"/>

==Sports== Sawyerr served as a longstanding vice-chairman of the Council of Patrons of Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. and later became the President of the football club's Council of Patrons.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Hearts Patrons Calm Trouble|date=31 October 2001|url=https://www.modernghana.com/sports/188949/4/hearts-patrons-calm-troubles.html|publisher=modernghana.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Hearts Council of Patrons back Africa withdrawal|author=Ghana News Agency|date=2011|url=http://ghananewsagency.org/sports/hearts-council-of-patrons-back-africa-withdrawal-9364}}</ref>

==Personal life== Harry Sawyerr was a Freemason, belonging to the District Grand Lodge of Ghana under the United Grand Lodge of England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://masonictimesafrica.blogspot.com/2014/08/special-conference-on-freemasonry-in.html|title=Special conference on Freemasonry in Accra, Ghana|last=A|date=September 2014|access-date=27 November 2018}}</ref> ==Recognition== Sawyerr was the first Executive Chairman of the University of Ghana Medical School, appointed in 1990.<ref name="Harry Sawyer Profile" /> There are prizes at the University of Ghana Medical School in his name.<ref name=":daily"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://beckykwei.bogspot.com/2011/04/dr-vera-fosu-best-all-round-student.html |title=Dr Vera Fosu — Best All-round Student |access-date=28 May 2011 |work=Tsotsoo's journal |publisher=Becky Kwei |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306213420/http://beckykwei.blogspot.com/2011/04/dr-vera-fosu-best-all-round-student.html |archive-date=6 March 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all |date=2011-04-13 }}</ref>

In 2011, Sawyerr was decorated with the Companion of the Order of the Volta, the highest award in Ghana, by the then President John Evans Atta Mills.<ref name="Harry Sawyer Profile">{{cite web|title=Harry Sawyer Profile|url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=1237|publisher=GhanaWeb|access-date=15 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020061104/http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=1237|archive-date=20 October 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://isaacessel.blogspot.com/2011/10/mills-honours-national-heroes-urges.html|title=Mills honours national heroes; urges youth to die for Ghana|website=Voice of Ghana|first=Isaac|last=Essel|date=14 October 2011|access-date=4 March 2022}}</ref>

==Death and funeral== Sawyerr died on 8 November 2013 in Accra,<ref>{{cite web|title=Harry Sawyerr is dead|url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=291449|work=General News|date = 9 November 2013|publisher=Ghana Home Page|access-date=10 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110203648/http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=291449|archive-date=10 November 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> aged 87.<ref>{{cite web|first=Enoch Darfah |last=Frimpong|url= https://www.ghanamma.com/2013/04/25/celebrating-grandpa-harry-sawyerr-at-87-has-paid-his-due-to-ghana-and-the-ndc/ |title=Celebrating Grandpa Harry Sawyerr at 87: Has paid his due to Ghana and the NDC|website=Ghana News|date= 25 April 2013|access-date=4 March 2022}}</ref> His funeral was attended by several government officials and dignitaries.<ref name="ghananewsagency.org">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ghananewsagency.org/social/hundreds-pay-last-respect-to-late-harry-sawyerr--68833|title=Hundreds pay last respect to late Harry Sawyerr|publisher=Ghana News Agency|date=21 December 2013|access-date=2 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203082900/http://www.ghananewsagency.org/social/hundreds-pay-last-respect-to-late-harry-sawyerr--68833|archive-date=3 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://mobile.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/news/201312/183725.php|title=Burial Service For Harry Sawyerr|website=peacefmonline|date=23 December 2013|access-date=4 March 2022}}</ref> He was buried at the Basel Mission Cemetery in Osu.<ref name="ghananewsagency.org"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Citation|title=Commemorative Tributes in the Parliament of Ghana in honour of Henry Romulus Sawyerr|url=http://odekro.org/Hansards/Sittings/345|date=18 December 2013}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|gh}} {{s-bef|before=New Parliament}} {{s-ttl|title=MP for Osu-Klottey |years=1979 – 81}} {{s-aft|after=Parliament abolished }} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister for Transport and Communications |years=1979 – 81}} {{s-aft|after= }} {{s-bef|before=Mary Grant}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister for Education |years=1993 – 97}} {{s-aft|after=Esi Sutherland-Addy}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawyerr, Harry}} Category:1926 births Category:2013 deaths Category:21st-century Ghanaian politicians Category:Alumni of Achimota School Category:Alumni of the Accra Academy Category:Communications ministers of Ghana Category:Ministers for education of Ghana Category:Ga-Adangbe people Category:Ghanaian Freemasons Category:Ghanaian MPs 1969–1972 Category:Ghanaian MPs 1979–1981 Category:National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Category:Osu Salem School alumni Category:Politicians from Accra Category:People of Sierra Leone Creole descent Category:Place of birth missing Category:Quantity surveyors Category:Recipients of the Order of the Volta Category:Ministers for transport of Ghana Category:United National Convention politicians Category:Academic staff of the University of Ghana Medical School