The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie known by many as Sir John is dead. He died after testing positive for COVID-19.
He succumbed to complications of the disease while undergoing treatment at the ICU of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Sir John was also former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party(NPP).
Profile of Sir John
Sir John was born in the Ashanti Region and he attended Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School in Bekwai from where he obtained his GCE Ordinary level certificate.
He proceeded to obtain his GCE Advanced level certificate from Konongo Odumase Secondary School in Konongo.
Mr Owusu Afriyie was admitted to study political science at the University of Ghana after which he enrolled at the Ghana School of Law where he graduated with Bachelor of Laws.
He was then admitted as a solicitor and counsel for the Supreme Court of Ghana. Sir John entered into private law practice in 1981.
During the John Agyekum Kufour administration, he was appointed head of legal services at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
He was later made to act as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the corporation.
While managing his firm, Afriyie was also actively engaged in Ghanaian politics.
He lost his bid to secure a second term to Kwabena Agyapong. In May 2017, while serving as the CEO of the Forestry Commission, he publicly declared that he would contest the New Patriotic Party’s general secretary elections if there was an overwhelming call for him to do so.