Today in 1956: Sir Kobina Arku Korsah became the first African Chief Justice of Ghana
Sir Kobina Arku Korsah became the first African Chief Justice of Ghana in 1956
The world of opportunities for Africans, in particular, started opening up after the slave trade became more and more unpopular.
Read full articleIn Ghana, about a year before this West African country gained independence from its colonial masters, Britain, in 1957, Sir Kobina Arku Korsah became the first African Chief Justice of Ghana.
Born on April 3, 1894, at Saltpond, Sir Kobina Korsah made history when he ascended to that high office of the judicial arm of government.
According to details on ghanaianmuseum.com, Sir Kobina Arku Korsah was the first Ghanaian alongside Nana Sir Ofori-Atta I to be appointed as a member of the Governor’s Executive Council.
He was the youngest person ever to be elected as a member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council and the first Boys Scout Commissioner in Ghana.
Sir Arku Korsah was the first Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Ghana, Scottish Constitution from 1953 to 1963.
After Sir Arku Korsah found the defendants in the Kulungugu bombing trial not guilty, Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr, Kwame Nkrumah, removed him from office.
In addition to his judicial work, Sir Arku Korsah was also a founding member of the Ghana Academy for Arts & Sciences.
In August 1962, Sir Kobina Arku Korsah presided over the trial of five defendants. At the end of that trial, three of the accused were found not guilty and this displeased the Nkrumah government. Kwame Nkrumah sacked Sir Arku as Chief Justice in December 1963 unconstitutionally.
Sir Arku Korsah was Born in Saltpond and educated at Mfantsipim School, Fourah Bay College (BA degree in 1915), Durham University and London University (LLB in 1919).
He died on January 25, 1967.
