Born on 22nd February 1904 into a royal Ashanti family, Baffour Osei Akoto was raised on the core values of his people respect, leadership and responsibility.
In 1935, he rose to become the Senior Okyeame (Chief Linguist) to the Asantehene, serving under Otumfuo Prempeh for many years. As Okyeame, he was more than a spokesman; he was the voice of tradition and wisdom, interpreting royal messages and connecting the king to his people.
But Baffour Osei Akoto was not only a custodian of culture. He was a fearless political actor.
In the 1950s, as Ghana inched toward independence, he grew worried about the direction of power. He felt too much authority was being concentrated in a central government led by Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party (CPP), while traditional leaders and regions were being sidelined.
To fight this, in September 1954, he formed the National Liberation Movement (NLM) in Kumasi. The movement’s rallying symbol was the cocoa pod and its demand was clear: federalism a system where power is shared, regions have a commanding voice and traditions are respected.
His stance came at a cost for opposing the government, he was arrested and detained without trial under the Preventive Detention Act, yet he did not abandon his principles.
When political parties were later forced to merge, his NLM became a core part of the United Party (UP), the forerunner of Ghana’s Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition. His ideas on decentralization and respect for tradition continue to influence Ghana’s democracy today.
Okyeame Baffour Osei Akoto passed away in 2002. His legacy lives on in Ghana’s political history and in his family he was the stepfather of former President J.A. Kufuor and father of former Agriculture Minister Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
