Joseph Godson Amamoo is a former Ghanaian journalist, academic, foreign service worker, and politician. He was also Ghana's Ghana's ambassador to Hungary and also a Deputy Minister for Health who later became Deputy Minister of Lands and Minerals Resources in the Second Republic of Ghana.

He was born on 29 August 1931 at Swedru in The Central Region of Ghana.

Joseph attended the Agona Swedru Methodist Schools and completed in 1944. He then won a scholarship to further his education at the Achimota School from 1945 to 1950 and then proceeded to the University of Ghana still on scholarship. He graduated in 1956 from the University of Ghana with a Bachelor's Degree. He studied law at the Middle Temple, London he was called to the bar in 1965.

He was a teacher at the Prempeh College, Kumasi for one year before going to the University of Ghana. In 1956, Joseph was an assistant editor of the Government's Weekly Review 1956 and taught at the Adisadel College, Cape Coast till 1957.

He published a book: The New Ghana in 1958. He gave up his dreams of becoming a doctor to become a journalist. From 1958 to 1960, he was the London correspondent of the Ghanaian Times.

Joseph Amanoo worked with the Ghanaian foreign service as a public relations adviser to the Ghana High Commission in London. He was appointed Ghana's first ambassador to Hungary and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria in 1962 serving as one of the youngest ambassadors in the world.

In 1965 he became a freelance writer and lecturer. He was made editor of the Ghanaian Times in 1967.

Politics

Joseph joined the Progress Party on 1 June 1969 after serving as editor of the Ghanaian Times for two years. When the second republic was ushered in, he was elected to represent the Swedru-Nyakrom-Nkum constituency in parliament on the ticket of the Progress Party.

He contested the seat against William Yaw Eduful of the National Alliance of Liberals, Alhaji Seidu Ben Alhassan of the People's Action Party, John Alex-Hamah of the United Nationalist Party, and Edward Kobina Ferguson of the All People's Republican Party.

That same year he was appointed the Deputy Minister for Health. He served together with Adam Amandi in this post until 1971. In 1971 he was appointed deputy minister of Lands and Minerals Resources.

He served in this position until 1972 when the Busia government was overthrown by the Supreme Military Council (then the National Redemption Council). He and other officials were arrested and detained after the coup d'état by the then military government. He was released in 1973.

Later life

Prior to his retirement, Joseph worked for the borough of Hackney for eleven years as the Race Equality Officer. He also taught at the Kennedy-King College, Chicago for five years. His public life ended in 2009 after serving as chairman of the state-owned diamond mine in Ghana since 2001. He has been a member of the Royal Society of Arts, London since 1964.

He is also a former executive member of the Royal African Society, London. He has been invited by numerous universities and many adult audiences in the United Kingdom to lecture and gives talks on Africa.

Publications

Joseph's interests are in the field of African affairs. He has contributed to many African and British journals, and also authored books concerning Ghanaian and African affairs. Some of his works include;

The New Ghana: the birth of a nation, (Pan Books Ltd, London, 1958); Constitutional Proposals for Post-Coup Africa, (Black and Company, London, 1967);

The ambassador: a novel, (JAFINT, 2001);

The Queen's Men, (Xlibris Corporation, 7 March 2001);

The African princess: a novel, (Published by JAFINT, 2003);

Ghana: 50 Year of Independence, (Xlibris Corporation LLC, 2011);

God's Hand at Work, (Xlibris Corporation, 2013);

My African Journey, (Xlibris Corporation LLC, 2014);

Africa: Rich But Poor, (Xlibris, 30 December 2015);

Racism: a Global Problem, (AuthorHouse UK, 30 Apr 2016).

He was married to an Irish woman; the late Breid Mary Amamoo (née McArdle) who was made queen in Joseph's hometown Swedru. Together they have two daughters who are both barristers by profession and also five grandchildren. His interests include reading, walking, classical music, art galleries, museums, boxing, marriage, and interracial harmony.

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