George Benneh

George Kwabena Effah Benneh

A member of the Bono ethnic group, George Benneh was born on 6 March 1934 in the small town of Jamdede, about a kilometre from Berekum on the then Gold Coast, now Ghana.^[1][2] His father was Isaac William Benneh, a Convention People's Party politician during the First Republic under the Nkrumah government, who served as the Minister for Rural Industries and the Member of Parliament for Berekum.^[3] His mother was Theresa Ammea, a farmer and a kenkey trader.^[3] During his childhood, together with his younger brother, Stephen, he assisted his mother in her trade and spent his school vacations helping out on a cocoa farm his family owned at Prusu.^[1][2] On the way to the farm early in the mornings, he and his family stopped along the way to have a palm soup meal as the journey was long.^[1][2]

Raised a

In 1957, he was among 4 students who were selected nationally and awarded the Shell Ghana Independence Scholarship for university studies at the University College of Ghana, then a constituent college of the University of London from where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography in 1960.^[1][2] At Legon, he captained the University of Ghana Athletics Team from 1958 to 1959. Between 1961 and 1964, he did his postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics, after which he was awarded a PhD in Geography.^[1][2]

Career

Academia

At the beginning of his career, just before his doctoral studies, he taught geography at

Under the auspices of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, he was a distinguished visiting professor and guest speaker at the 50th Anniversary of the Fulbright Hayes Fellowship Anniversary Conference in Atlanta, in 1996.^[4][5] In 1997, he was the John Cadbury Fellow at the Centre for West African Studies at the University of Birmingham, and a Visiting Lecturer, Department of Geography, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.^[2]

Foray into politics

George Benneh was appointed the Commissioner for Lands, Natural Resources, Fuel and Power from 1979 to 1981. Concurrently, he was the Minister of Lands, Natural Resources, Fuel and Power.

• 1969 – 1971 - President of the Amalgamated Sports Club of the University of Ghana[1]
• 1972 – 1974 – Member, Board of Directors of Graphic Corporation of Ghana^[1]
• 1974 – 1978 - Member, Sunyani Diocesan Catholic Laity Council and the First Secretary of the Ghana National Catholic Laity Council^[1]
• 1980 – Co-chairman of Planning Committee on the Papal visit to Ghana by John Paul II^[2]
• 1982 - President of Ghana Tae Kwan Do^[1]
• 1988 – 1992 – chairman, Board of Directors of Bank of Ghana^[1]
• 1993 – Member of
  National Development Planning Commission^[1]
• 1997 – 2002 – chairman, Ghana National Population Council[1]
• 1997 – 2002 – chairman, National Council for Tertiary Education^[1]
• 1997 – 2002 – Chairman of Board of Directors, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation^[1]
• 2000 – chairman, Technical Advisory Committee on the 2000 National Population and Housing Census^[2]

International appointments

• 1974 – First President of the Federation of African University Sports (FASU)^[1]
• 1993 – President of Association of African Universities^[1]
• 1993 – Member of the Board of Trustees of Population Council, New York^[2]
• 1996 – External Member of the Council of the University of Swaziland^[2]
• 1997 – First Chairman of Africa Regional Council of the International Association of University Presidents^[2]
• 1998 – Chairman of the Experts Advisory Committee on Population, Environment and Food Security, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa^[2]
• 2000 – Vice-chairman of Board of Directors of the African Population Advisory Committee^[2]
• 2001 – Member, Board of Trustees of the World Wildlife Fund^[2]

Awards, honours and authorship

George Benneh authored over 13 books and booklets and 70 other publications in Geography, Environment, Land Tenure and Land Use, Population, Education and Public Administration.^[1][2][6] Some of his books include A New Geography of Ghana (1970)^{[7][8][9][10]} and Technology Should Seek Tradition: Studies on Traditional Land Tenure and Small Holder Farming Systems in Ghana (2011).^[11] He was a contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica.^[12]

He participated in over 60 International Conferences, Seminars and Workshops including the International Workshop and Rural Poverty Eradication in the 21st Century held in Tokyo in 2000, and the AAU General Conference held in Nairobi in February 2001.^[1][2] George Benneh received the United Nations Global 500 award at the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 for his contribution to teaching and research in the fields of Population and Environment.^[1][2] He was named the Man of the Year in 1997 by the American Biographical Institute. He was a Member of the New York Academy of Sciences and a Member of New York Academy of Science. He was also a Member of the Academia Europaea (European Academy). He received several state awards from his native Ghana and other states: Grand Officer De Ordre Du Lion, Republic of Senegal, 1981, Companion of River Gambia, Republic of The Gambia, 1981 and member of the Order of the Star of Ghana, 2006.^[1][2]

He was also awarded honorary doctorate degrees (Doctor of Letters – honoris causa) by a number of universities including University of Copenhagen, 1998, Longwood College, Virginia, USA in 1995, University of Tokyo in 1996 and University of Ghana, 2002 and the University for Development Studies, Tamale in 2003 for the role he played in setting up the institution.^[1]

The University of Ghana, Legon named a roundabout in honour of George Benneh.^[13][14]

He launched his autobiography, 'My Time, My Nation' in 2017.^[6][15] In the book, he recounts his childhood, school years at Achimota.^[6] There are also chapters of his life as an African postgraduate student in Britain and his encounter with racism in the United States. He gives a systemic account of his academic and political careers and how he survived serving under different political regimes and military interventions in the country.^[6]

Benneh also donated a multidisciplinary collection of 257 books from his personal library to the Balme Library of the University of Ghana.^[16] Some of his books include Fighting For Freedom, Energy And Ghana’s Socio-Economic Development, Technology Should Seek Tradition, Gender: Evolving Roles And Perceptions, Harnessing Research, Science And Technology For Sustainable Development In Ghana, Women And Development In The Third World, European Review, Ghana @ 50 Anniversary Lectures, Philosophy and Human Geography: An Introduction To Contemporary Approaches, Population Dynamics of Kenya.^[16]

Foundation

To bridge the research-policy gap and to bring science and technology to the doorstep of every citizen, Benneh initiated the convening of a National Forum on Harnessing Research, Science and Technology for Sustainable National Development in 2004 and was the chair of the planning committee.^[1][2][6]

He set up a project on ICT for the youth in his hometown in Berekum.^[1][2] Together with his siblings, he donated land at the Benneh Estate for the ICT project saying “education is so important for one’s livelihood” in order to equip the youth with employable skills as a way to solve youth unemployment in the area.^[1]

Personal life

He was married to Adelaide Mary Benneh (also known as Nana Adwoa Asiaa Benneh Beyeeman I, a Development Queenmother or Nkosuohemaa of Wirenkyeren Amanfrom and Dwantoa Hemaa of Akyem Abuakwa)