Harry Amoo Dodoo (8 August 1918 – 10 February 2000) was a Ghanaian chartered accountant, public servant and businessman who led the Ghana Cocoa Board at different times as chief accountant, general manager, managing director, chief executive and chairman. He was the first Gold Coast native to be a chartered accountant and the first Gold Coast indigene to work with Cassleton Elliot and Company (now KPMG).[1]

Harry Dodoo
Born
Harry Amoo Dodoo

(1918-08-08)8 August 1918
Died10 February 2000(2000-02-10) (aged 81)
NationalityGhanaian
EducationAccra Academy
Alma materInstitute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Occupation(s)Public Servant, Chartered Accountant
Known forFirst Gold Coast indigene to be a Chartered Accountant

Dodoo was the organizational leader of the Cocoa Marketing Board as general manager from 1955 to 1965,[2] and as managing director from 1965 to 1967,[3] and the chief executive on its restructuring as Ghana Cocoa Board from 1983 to 1986.[4]

Early life and education

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Harry Dodoo was born on 8 August 1918 at Accra, Greater Accra Region, Gold Coast.[5] He studied at the Accra Academy from 1935 to 1938.[5][6]

Dodoo begun his career at the Accountant General's department, where he worked from 1939 until 1945. In 1945 he became an Articled clerk training in the field of Accountancy at Cassleton Elliot and Company (now KPMG).[1] In 1949, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He consequently became the first Gold Coast native to qualify as a Chartered Accountant in the Gold Coast. He worked as a Chartered Accountant with the firm from 1950 until 1952.[1]

Ghana Cocoa Board

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In 1952, Dodoo was appointed accountant for the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board (now Ghana Cocoa Board). In 1953 he was promoted to chief accountant and on 25 May 1955 he became the general manager of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board.[7][8][9][10][6]

In September 1960, Dodoo was appointed by President Kwame Nkrumah to a Committee to enquire into the Cost of Living which was chaired by S.B. Ofori and included Kwesi Amoako-Atta, J. V. L. Phillips, H. Millar-Craig and E. N. Omaboe.[11]

Dodoo served in the capacity of general manager of C.M.B. until 1 March 1965 when he was re-titled managing director.[12][13][14] In July 1966, he became acting chairman of the board of directors of the Cocoa Marketing Board, whilst still as managing director, when Nana Sir Tsibu Darku left the role.[15] On 29 July 1966, William Ofori-Atta replaced Dodoo to become substantive chairman with an appointment by the National Liberation Council.[16][17] Dodoo served as managing director of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board until 22 February 1967 when he resigned.[15][18]

In October 1981, President Hilla Limann appointed Dodoo as chairman of the governing board of the Cocoa Marketing Board.[19] In 1983, Dodoo was appointed acting chief executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) by Chairman Jerry Rawlings, serving until 1986.[20][21][22] On 25 September 1986, he was appointed as chairman of the board of directors of Ghana Cocoa Board. He resigned from the board of directors on 26 April 1988.[23][24]

Directorships

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Dodoo served as a member of the board of governors of Accra Academy.

Dodoo was vice president of the Association of Accountants of the Gold Coast (which was later renamed; the Association of Accountants in Ghana),[25] he also served on the first council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana inaugurated in 1963.[26] He served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana from 1974 to 1976.[27]

In 1969, Dodoo ventured into private business by establishing Dodoo, Lobban & Co. (now Lobban-Hyde) an audit and accountancy firm in Ghana with William Drummond Lobban as partner. Dodoo retired from the firm in 1979.[28][29]

His other directorships included Fan Milk, Blackwood Hodge (Ghana), Hansa Manufacturing Company Limited, Ghana Consolidated Diamonds and Ghana Aluminium Products.[30] In the early 1960s he served on the board of the Ghana Main Reef Limited.[31]

He was also a member of the Council of State in the Third Republic.[citation needed]

Personal life and death

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Dodoo enjoyed music and dancing.[6] He died on 10 February 2000 at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c History of KPMG in Ghana (PDF) (Report). KPMG. March 2018. p. 5.
  2. ^ "TOP COCOA BOSS". Life. USA: Time Inc. 18 March 1957. p. 39. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Proceedings, Volume 2". African Studies Association, Los Angeles. 1968.
  4. ^ "Volume 2 Issues 1-25". Talking Drums. 1984. p. 81.
  5. ^ a b c Aryeh, Elvis (16 February 2000). Daily Graphic: Issue 147835, February 16 2000. Graphic Communications Group.
  6. ^ a b c "Ghana Year Book". Daily Graphic. 1966. p. 218.
  7. ^ Great Britain. Colonial Office (1966). Colonial regulations for His majesty's colonial service...: Public officers. H.M. Stationery Office, London. p. 139.
  8. ^ "Gold Coast Gazette". Government Print Office. 1957. p. 21.
  9. ^ Daniel, D. K. (1975). Interdisciplinary perspectives on colonial and neo-colonial Africa: journal of proceedings. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University. p. 34.
  10. ^ United Nations (1963). Working papers, volume 11. United Nations, New York. p. 103.
  11. ^ Ghana (1960). Ghana Gazette. p. 184.
  12. ^ Beckman, Björn (1976). Organising the Farmers: Cocoa Politics and National Development in Ghana. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies. p. 277. ISBN 9789171061010.
  13. ^ "Standard Bank Review". Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, London. 1966. p. 14.
  14. ^ Ghana. Commission to Enquire into the Kwame Nkrumah Properties; National Liberation Council (Ghana); Ghana. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (1967). Report of the Commission, appointed under the Commissions of Enquiry Act, 1964 (Act 250) to Enquire into the Kwame Nkrumah Properties. Ministry of Information on Belhalf of the National Liberation Council. p. 48.
  15. ^ a b "Mr. Dodoo Resigns". West Africa. No. 2589–2612. Afrimedia International. 1967. p. 315.
  16. ^ Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board (1965). "Board Gets New Chairman". State C.M.B. Newsletter. No. 28–33. p. 17.
  17. ^ United States. Central Intelligence Agency (29 July 1966). "Cocoa Board Members". Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts (146–150): 14.
  18. ^ Ghana Cocoa Board (2000). Ghana Cocoa Board Handbook. The Board. p. 58.
  19. ^ "Ghana News". Ghana Embassy. 1981. p. 9.
  20. ^ "Ghana News, Volumes 13-14". Washington, D.C. : Embassy of Ghana. 1984. p. 14.
  21. ^ "Sub-Saharan Africa Report, Issues 1, Issue 7". Foreign Broadcast Information Service. 1985. p. 21.
  22. ^ "West Africa, Issues 3583-3599". West Africa Publishing Company Limited. 1986. p. 1280.
  23. ^ Ghana Cocoa Board (1988). "Annual Report and Account for the period Ended 30th September". The Board. p. 4.
  24. ^ "Daily Graphic: Issue 148526, May 18 2002; Democratic relevance of a culture of resignation by R.B.W. Hesse". Daily Graphic. 18 May 2002. p. 7. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  25. ^ "Volume 136". The Accountant. Lafferty Publications, Limited: 543. 1957.
  26. ^ Addo-Twum, J. K. (7 April 1978). "THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS (GHANA), PUBLIC LECTURE". Daily Graphic. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  27. ^ "ICAG" (PDF). Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  28. ^ "About Lobban Hyde". Lobban hyde.com. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  29. ^ Ghana (1973). Commercial and Industrial Bulletin, Issues 64-80. Government Printer. p. 1491.
  30. ^ Ghana (1973). Commercial and Industrial Bulletin, Volumes 64-80. Government Printer. p. 1398.
  31. ^ "Volume 256". Mining Journal. Fisher, Knight & Co., Ltd., London: 523. 1961.