View source for Reginald Reynolds Amponsah

{{Short description|Ghanaian politician (1919–2009)}}
{{Use Ghanaian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix   =
|name               = Reginald Reynolds Amponsah
|honorific-suffix   =
|image              =
|imagesize          =
|smallimage         = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
|alt                =
|caption            =
|order              =
|office             = [[Minister for Education]]
|term_start         = 1971
|term_end           = January 1972
|president          = [[Edward Akufo-Addo]]
|primeminister      = [[Kofi Abrefa Busia]]
|predecessor        = [[William Ofori Atta]]
|successor          = Lieutenant-Colonel. Paul Nkegbe
|office1             = Minister for Lands, Mineral Resources, Forestry and Wildlife
|term_start1         = 1969
|term_end1           = February 1971
|president1          = Edward Akufo-Addo
|primeminister1      = Kofi Abrefa Busia
|predecessor1        = K. O. Thompson
|successor1          = [[T.D. Brodie Mends]]
|constituency_MP2       = Mampong North
|majority2           =
|term_start2= 1 October 1969
|term_end2= 13 January 1972
|predecessor2= ''Constituency merged''
|successor2= [[Akwasi Afrifa]]
|birth_date         = {{Birth date|1919|12|30|df=y}}
|birth_place        = Daaman, [[Ghana]]
|death_date         = {{Death date and age|2009|06|03|1919|12|30|df=y}}
|death_place        =
|restingplace       = Adudwan, Ghana
|restingplacecoordinates =
|birthname          =
|nationality        = [[Ghana|Ghanaian]]
|party              = [[Progress Party (Ghana)|Progress Party]]
|otherparty         = [[United Party (Ghana)|United Party]]<br/>[[New Patriotic Party]]
|spouse             =
|partner            = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
|relations          =
|children           =
|residence          =
|education = [[Achimota School]]
|alma_mater         = {{unbulleted|[[Staffordshire University]]|[[Royal College of Arts]]}}
|occupation         =
|profession         = Potter, politician
|cabinet            =
|committees         =
|portfolio          =
|religion           =
|signature          =
|signature_alt      =
|website            =
|footnotes          =
}}
'''Reginald Reynolds Amponsah''' (30 December 1919 – 3 June 2009) was a Ghanaian potter and politician of the first Parliament of the Second Republic representing the [[Mampong]] North constituency in the Ashanti region of [[Ghana]]. He was a [[Minister of State]] in the [[Busia government]].
==Education==
Amponsah completed his secondary education at the [[Achimota School]] in 1942. He was the school prefect for his year.<ref name="buried">{{cite news |date=2009-06-20 |title=R R Amponsah to be buried on September 3 |work=GhanaWeb |publisher= |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=167189 |access-date=2010-06-08}}</ref> Among his mates there were [[Victor Owusu]], [[K. B. Asante]], and [[Silas Dodu]]. He was awarded  a scholarship to study pottery at [[Stoke on Trent]] in the  [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Reginald Reynolds Amponsah |url=http://rr-amponsah.gonetoosoon.org/memorial/ |access-date=2008-06-08 |publisher=GoneTooSoon.}}</ref>
==Politics==
===First republic===
Amponsah was in opposition with the [[United Party (Ghana)|United Party]] in the first republic. [[Kwame Nkrumah]]'s [[Nkrumah government|government]], he was accused of plotting to overthrow the [[Convention People's Party]] government along with Victor Owusu, Apaloo, [[William Ofori Atta]], Dzenkle Dzewu [[Joe Appiah]] and  Major Awhaitey. During a [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] interview, he said about his arrest in 1958 that<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.graphicghana.com/news/page.php?news=1962 |title=R.R. Amponsah Is Dead |access-date=2010-06-08 |date=2009-06-10 |author= Lucy Adoma Yeboah |publisher=Daily Graphic Online}}</ref>
A British police officer came to me and said “you are under arrest",  "He pulled a gun and said “come at once or I will blow your head off."
Amponsah was jailed without trial under the Preventive Detention Act. He stayed there from 1958 until the [[coup d'état]] of 24 February 1966 which brought down the [[Nkrumah government|government]] of [[Kwame Nkrumah]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Hayford Atta-Krufi |date=2009-06-15 |title=NPP UK and Ireland Mourns R. R. Amponsah |work=GhanaWeb |publisher= |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/diaspora/artikel.php?ID=163741 |access-date=2010-06-08}}</ref>
===Second republic===
Amponsah was appointed by [[Kofi Abrefa Busia]] as Minister for Lands, Mineral Resources, Forestry and Wildlife in his [[Progress Party (Ghana)|Progress Party]] [[Busia government|government]]. He was later appointed [[Education minister]] and initiated the process for reforms in basic education in Ghana.<ref name=buried/>
===Fourth republic===
During the fourth republic, he was the  Chairman of the Council of Elders of the [[New Patriotic Party]] (NPP). He was influential in uniting various factions within the NPP leading up to the [[2008 Ghanaian presidential election|2008 presidential]] and [[2008 Ghanaian parliamentary election|parliamentary]] elections.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=1&newsid=791 |title=R R Amponsah unites Yilo Krobo NPP |access-date=2010-06-08 |author=Peter Abban |date=2006-10-04 |publisher=StatesmanOnline |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930095339/http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=1&newsid=791 |archive-date=2011-09-30 }}</ref>
==Other activities==
Amponsah was chairman of the now-defunct [[Ghana Airways]] airline in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African airlines |last=Guttery |first=Ben R. |year=1998 |publisher=McFarland & Co Inc |isbn=978-0-7864-0495-7 |pages=291 |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=0786404957 |access-date=2010-08-23}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Amponsah was born at Daaman near [[Mampong|Asante Mampong]] in the [[Sekyere West District]] of the [[Ashanti Region]] of Ghana. He was married with four children. He was buried on 3 September 2009 at Adudwan, also near Asante Mampong.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ghanamma.com/latest-news/9776-rr-amponsah-goes-home.html |title=RR Amponsah Goes Home |access-date=2010-08-23 |date=2009-09-04 |author=Kwaku Oteng |publisher=GhanaMma.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908014823/http://www.ghanamma.com/latest-news/9776-rr-amponsah-goes-home.html |archive-date=2009-09-08 }}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Ofori Atta]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister for Education]] |years=1971–1972}}
{{s-aft|after=?}}
{{s-bef|before=?}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister for Lands, Mineral Resources, Forestry and Wildlife |years=?–1971}}
{{s-aft|after=?}}
{{s-par|gh}}
{{s-bef|before=Parliament suspended}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament |years=1969–1972}}
{{s-aft|after=Parliament suspended}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amponsah, Reginald Reynolds}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Ghanaian MPs 1969–1972]]
[[Category:Alumni of Achimota School]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Ghana]]
[[Category:United Party (Ghana) politicians]]
[[Category:New Patriotic Party politicians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Ashanti Region]]
[[Category:Ghanaian civil servants]]
[[Category:Progress Party (Ghana) politicians]]
[[Category:African potters]]
[[Category:Leaders of organizations]]