Ministry of Foreign Afairs and Regional Integration

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in 1957 with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, then leader of Government Business, as the first Foreign Minister. A Permanent Secretary was the head of administration, aided by Principal Assistant Secretaries who headed the various departments. On 6th March, 1957, when Ghana became independent, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah made a historic foreign policy pronouncement. The concept of free, proud, confident Africa was to dominate the foreign policy of Ghana. The independent state of Ghana had at its disposal, competent diplomats who had been selected and trained in 1955 to implement her foreign policy. Three very senior civil servants were also drafted into the Foreign Ministry to occupy higher posts. Dr. Nkrumah established an autonomous African Affairs Secretariat under his personal direction primarily to promote and effect his vision of African Unity a foreign policy issue which normally should have fallen within the purview of the Foreign Ministry. After h...