James Mercer (diplomat)

James Mercer (17 January 1916 – 17 September 1985) was a Ghanaian diplomat who was Ambassafor to Israel during the 1960s. He was also a prominent lawyer and businessman, becoming the founding chairman of the now-defunct Ghana Airways.

James Mercer
Mercer at the Ghanaian embassy in Tel Aviv, 1964
 Ghanaian
Ambassador
to  China
es:Anexo:Embajadores de Ghana en China
In office
1962–1963
Preceded byes:Cobina Kessie
Succeeded byJoe-Fio Neenyann Meyer
 Ghanaian
Ambassador
to  Israel
In office
1964–1966
Preceded byes:Bediako Poku[1]
Succeeded byStephen Joseph Asamoah Otu (1915–1979)
Personal details
Born(1916-01-17)17 January 1916
Died17 September 1985(1985-09-17) (aged 69)

Early life

Mercer was born in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana on 17 January 1916. His twin brother was Thomas Mends Kodwo-Mercer (1916–2003), and both attended Adisadel College, Cape Coast, as did many of his siblings, children and grandchildren, a long-standing tradition of his family.[2]

James Mercer Gate, Adisadel College, Cape Coast

Career

Mercer was a prominent lawyer, working during the government of Kwame Nkrumah and beyond. Mercer was a barrister-at-law[3] at the Sekondi Bar, Chairman of the Ghana/Ivory Coast Border Commission and first chairman of the now-defunct Ghana Airways.[4]

Personal life and death

James Mercer was the father of Andrew Egypa Mercer, a current member of parliament for Sekondi and Esther Mercer. He was also the brother of T. M. Kodwo-Mercer, the first Ghanaian High Commissioner to Britain from 1954 to 1956 and uncle of the former Minister of Trade and Industry, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.[3][5] James Mercer was also the uncle of late Sally Hayfron, first wife of Robert Mugabe.[6]

James Mercer died on 17 September 1985, at the age of 69.[7]

References
  1. Bediako Poku(born 1918) in Gold Coast; 1939–1942: educated Wesley College Kumasi, 1963: Lincoln's Inn; 1943–1945: Headmaster, Kumasi Division School, 1945–1947: Boy's Industrial School; 1948–1950: National Treasurer, Convention People's Party; 1951–1954: Member, Ghana Legislative Assembly; 1954–1959: General Secretary Convention People's Party; 1957: Afro-Asian Conference Cairo; Guinea Democratic Annual Convention 1958; 1959–1964: Ambassador to Israel; 1964 appointed High Commissioner Uganda; Member, Ghana delegations to OAU in Cairo; 18 February 1966–24 February 1966: Ambassador to Peking, 4 August 1966:New Ghana Ambassador to USSR Ghana's Ambassador designate to the Soviet Union, Bediako Poku, has left Accra for Moscow to take up his duties. He was formerly Ghana's Ambassador to China
  2. "Adisadel College Old Boys Association - Year Group Reports". www.adisadelonline.com. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  3. "Burial of First African Gold Coast Commissioner to UK". Ghana Web. GHANA HIGH COMMISSION. 28 November 2003. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016.
  4. "Reminiscences of Adisadel". adisadelonline.net. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. Guttery, Ben (1998). Encyclopedia of African Airlines. McFarland. p. 75. ISBN 9780786404957.
  6. Buser, Hans (2010). In Ghana at Independence: Stories of a Swiss Salesman. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien. p. 31. ISBN 978-3905758191.
  7. West Africa: Issues 3583–3599. West Africa Publishing Company Limited. 1986. p. 964.
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