Name Joseph de Preceded by New position | Nationality Ghanaian Resigned December 31, 1981 | |
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Spouse(s) Lily Anna de Graft-Johnson (nee Sekyi) Died April 22, 1999, London, United Kingdom | ||
Dr. Joseph William Swain de Graft-Johnson (6 October 1933 – 22 April 1999) was a Ghanaian engineer, academic and politician. He was Vice-President of Ghana from 1979 to 1981.
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Career
De Graft-Johnson practised as an engineer in Ghana. He was a lecturer at the Buildings and Roads Research Institute of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at Kumasi, and later became the director. He was also one of the founding members of the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE), of which he was the President from 1977 to 1978.
Politics
During the era of military rule under the Supreme Military Council, he was involved in opposition to continued military rule as he was then President of the GhIE, one of many professional bodies in Ghana opposing the military government. He suffered personal attacks because of this. De Graft-Johnson joined the People's National Party (PNP) when it was founded in 1979. This was after the ban on political parties imposed in 1972 by the National Redemption Council was lifted. The PNP won the elections and he became the first ever Vice President of Ghana in the Limann government. The government was overthrown by coup d'état on 31 December 1981. He left for exile in London, England after the coup.
Death
De Graft-Johnson died on 22 April 1999 in London at the age of 65.