Bashiru Kwaw-Swanzy

Bashiru Kwaw-Swanzy
Bashiru Kwaw-Swanzy
3rd Attorney General of Ghana
	In office; 1 February 1962 – 24 February 1966
President	Kwame Nkrumah
Preceded by	George Commey Mills-Odoi
Succeeded by	Victor Owusu
Attorney General of Zanzibar
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 3 December 1983
Personal details
Born	Edward Benard Kwaw-Swanzy; 25 October 1921; Benyin, Gold Coast
Died	15 September 1997 (aged 75); Accra
Nationality	Ghanaian
Education	Achimota School; St. Augustine's College;
Alma mater	Victoria University of Manchester; University of Cambridge;

Born Benard Edward Kwaw-Swanzy he was also known as Bartholomew Ebassuah Kwaw-Swanzy and later known as Alhaji Bashiru Kwaw-Swanzy. He was an Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in the First Republic.[1]

Early life and education

He was born on 25 October 1921 at Beyin an Nzema area in the Western Region, Ghana. He attended Roman Catholic schools in Axim, Eikwe and Half Assini from 1927 to 1933. He entered St. Theresa's Seminary in Amisano from 1933 to 1938 in hopes of becoming a Catholic priest. In 1939 he entered Prince of Wales College later known as Achimota School where he obtained his Cambridge Certificate in 1940 he continued at St. Augustine's College, Cape Coast in 1941 to train as a teacher and he received his Gold Coast teachers' certificate in 1942. He returned to Achimota School in 1942 to pursue his University of London Intermediate Bachelor of arts degree at Achimota College and completed in 1944. He had his university education at the Victoria University of Manchester, school of History from 1947 to 1950 and the University of Cambridge, Fitzwilliam house- School of Research Studies in 1952 where he obtained his post graduate degree in 1954 he was called to the English bar at the Lincoln's Inn.[2][3]

Career

He set up practice in the Gold Coast in 1955. He became a public officer when he was appointed chairman of the Timber Marketing Board in April 1960. He was appointed deputy attorney general working with Geoffrey Bing who was the then Attorney General of Ghana. Before becoming Attorney General of Ghana in 1962, Alhaji Kwaw Swanzy accomplished with commendable success two important international legal assignments on behalf of the Ghana government in Zanzibar and the Gambia. During his time in Zanzibar in 1961, Alhaji Swanzy successfully obtained the acquittal of about 80 members of the Afro- Shirazi Party who had been indicted for murder in the riots which erupted in that country in 1960. In Gambia, Alhaji Kwaw-Swanzy secured the acquittal of the former Gambian President, Sir Dauda Jawara and several members of his Progressive Peoples' Party for electoral malpractices and fraud in 1962. In recognition of his distinguished professional services in Zanzibar, the Zanzibar government appointed him Attorney General and chief legal advisor to the Zanzibar government in 1983. In 1972 he represented Ghana in the Islamic conference at Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. He was elected joint-chairman of the Ghana Muslim Representative Council on 6 July 1974.[4][5][6][7][8][3]

Personal life

He converted to the Islamic faith through the agency of Sheik Ibrahim Amartey while in prison at Ussher Fort on 5 October 1967 after the change of government in February 1966. He adopted the name Bashiru which means: "bearer of good tidings" in Arabic in place of Bartholomew. He had two wives and eight children.[2]

Death

He died on Monday, 15 September 1997 at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital after a short illness.[3]

References

"West Africa". 1997. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
"Ghana Year Book". 1978: 275. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Ghanaweb,"Kwaw-Zwanzy Passes Away", Ghanaweb, 22 September 1997.
Christenson, Ron (1991). Political Trials in History: From Antiquity to the Present.
Aidoo, George (1 February 1980). "GHANA A MOSLEM STATE?". Mirror. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
Mbogoni, L. E. Y. (2013). Aspects of Colonial Tanzania History.
Howell, T. A. (1972). Ghana & Nkrumah. New York, Facts on File.
White paper on the Report of the Jiagge Commission of Enquiry into the Assets of Specified Persons (Report). Ghana Publications Corporation, Accra-Tema. 1969.

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[1] "West Africa". 1997. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[YEARBOOK78-2] "Ghana Year Book". 1978: 275. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[KWAW_SWANZY-3] Ghanaweb,"Kwaw-Zwanzy Passes Away", Ghanaweb, 22 September 1997.

[4] Christenson, Ron (1991). Political Trials in History: From Antiquity to the Present.

[5] Aidoo, George (1 February 1980). "GHANA A MOSLEM STATE?". Mirror. Retrieved 31 October 2018.

[6] Mbogoni, L. E. Y. (2013). Aspects of Colonial Tanzania History.

[7] Howell, T. A. (1972). Ghana & Nkrumah. New York, Facts on File.

[8] White paper on the Report of the Jiagge Commission of Enquiry into the Assets of Specified Persons (Report). Ghana Publications Corporation, Accra-Tema. 1969.