Gilbert Boafo Boahene

Boahene was born on 18 December 1924. He started his primary education at the Amanokrom Presbyterian Junior School and continued at the Akropong Presbyterian Middle School popularly known as the Akropong Salem. He had his secondary education at the Accra Academy from 1941 to 1946, obtaining the Cambridge School Certificate Grade 1 with Exemption, from the London Matriculation. He studied at the University of Ghana for a History degree from 1949 to 1954.[2]

He entered the Administrative Service as an Assistant Government Agent to the Kete-Krachi (Buem-Krachi) District in the latter part of 1954, then was transferred to Keta in 1955. In 1955, he was put on appointment as Secretary to the Regional Officer in Ho and became the most ranking Gold Coast citizen in Trans-Volta Togoland.[3][4] He performed the duties of persuading people in the Buem-Krachi, Kpandu and Ho districts of British Togoland to be integrated into Ghana upon independence at the 1956 British Togoland status plebiscite, together with his administrative colleagues.[5] After that, in 1956, he became Government Agent to Jasikan and then transferred again to Kete-Krachi in the same role after Ghana's Independence[6]

After this period, he was attached to the High Commission of Ghana, London, and served as Assistant Director of Recruitment (Overseas) in the Ghana Civil Service for a little over two years, [7] to recruit Ghanaians in Europe and North America, to fill public services vacancies, created by the departure of expatriates during the post independence year.[8]

In 1963, he returned to the Establishment Secretariat in Ghana and was moved to the Ministry of Education on promotion as Principal Assistant Secretary.That same year, Boahene was posted on appointment as Secretary to the Public Services Commission,[9] until 1967 and returned to the Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education and became Principal Secretary there in June 1968.[10][11][12][13][14] He served on the academic boards of all three institutions of higher learning in Ghana which were; University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University of Cape Coast [15][10]

In 1969 he was made Secretary to the Public Services Commission for the second time, and then in 1972 sent to the Greater Accra Regional Office as Regional Administrative Officer. In 1974 Boahene was appointed Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Defense,[16] where he remained until he was promoted to the grade of Senior Principal Secretary In 1976. That same year in July 1976, he was posted to the seat of government as Deputy Secretary to the Supreme Military Council in direct succession to the Secretary.[17][18][19][20] He was subsequently made Secretary of the Supreme Military Council cabinet, a position he briefly held prior to the June 1979 revolutionary coup d'état that overthrew the Supreme Military Council government. He retired from the Civil Service in October 1979, prior to the coming into office of the Limann civilian administration.[21]

He began studies at the Ghana School of Law in 1994. He was called to the Ghanaian bar in 1998. In October 1998 he went into private law in Oboyang Chambers.[2]

He married Christine Joyce Ayisi in 1958. Together, they had 6 children. He is a father-in-law of Okyehene Amoatia Ofori-Panyin II, Paramount chief of Akyem Abuakwa. He died in November 2016.[2]