Ghanaian academic, administrator and minister (1930–2012)
This article is about the Ghanaian academic, administrator and Presbyterian minister, Nicholas T. Clerk. For his grandfather, the Gold Coast-born theologian, clergyman and missionary, see Nicholas Timothy Clerk. For the English politician from the Middle Ages, see Nicholas Clerk.
Nicholas Timothy Clerk was born on 3 March 1930 in Adawso in the Eastern Region of Ghana.[1] His father, Carl Henry Clerk (1895–1982), an agricultural educator, journalist, editor and Presbyterian minister, was the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1950 to 1954[6][7] and the Editor of the Christian Messenger, the newspaper of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana from 1960 to 1963.[7] Nicholas Clerk's mother, Martha Ayorkor Quao (1911–1989) hailed from La and Ga-Mashie.[8] She was the granddaughter of Nii Ngleshie Addy I, the eldest son of Nii Tetteh Tsuru I, the founder and ruler of the Otuopai Clan, a royal house in Ga Mashie.
Nicholas Timothy Clerk was a fourth generation member of the historically important Clerk family.[2][9] His paternal great-grandfather, Alexander Worthy Clerk (1820–1906), a Jamaican Moravian missionary arrived in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg (now the suburb of Osu) in Accra on the Gold Coast in 1843, as part of the original group of 24 West Indian missionaries who worked under the auspices of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society of Basel, Switzerland.[10][11][9] A.W. Clerk co-founded a boarding middle school, the Salem School in 1843. His paternal great-grandmother, Pauline Hesse (1831–1909) was of Danish, Ga and German heritage.[12] His great-grandaunt was Regina Hesse (1832 –1898), a pioneer educator and school principal who worked with the Basel Mission on the Gold Coast.[12] His grandfather, Nicholas Timothy Clerk (1862 –1961), a theologian was the first Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1918 to 1932[13][10] and a founding father of the all boys’ boarding high school, the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, established in 1938.[1][2] His grandmother, Anna Alice Meyer (1873–1934) was of Ga-Danish descent.[13]
Maternally, Clerk's uncle was the barrister and judge, Nii Amaa Ollennu (1906–1986), elected the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana during the Second Republic as well as serving as the Chairman of the Presidential Commission and acting President of Ghana from 7 August 1970 to 31 August 1970.[30][31] His other maternal uncle was Nathan Quao (1915–2005), a diplomat, educationist and public servant who became a presidential advisor to the governments of several Heads of State of Ghana.[32][33] In addition, his first cousin was an economist and diplomat, Amon Nikoi (1930–2002), the Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 1973 to 1977 and Finance minister from 1979 to 1981.[34][35]
In his early career, he taught English Language and Literature at his alma mater, the Presbyterian Boys Secondary School, Odumase-Krobo, the Government Training College at Peki and Tamale and at the Department of Liberal Arts at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.[1] He was later recruited as a lecturer in public policy, administration and management at the then newly established Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Greenhill, Legon in 1962, and rose through the ranks to become the Rector of the institute from 1977 to 1982.[1][5] The location of GIMPA, "Greenhill", was named by Clerk.[5] The name, "Greenhill", is a reference to the lush greenery and hilly topography of the main campus, as well as its location in Legon which was historically on the periphery of the Ghanaian capital, Accra.[5] Previously known as the Institute of Public Administration, the school was established in 1961 by the Government of Ghana with financial backing from the United Nations Special Fund Project, for the professional training of the country's civil servants.[5] Today, GIMPA is the country's principal school of public policy, public administration and governance. Clerk served on the Ghana Education Service Council.[5] He was also a guest lecturer at the School of Administration (now the University of Ghana Business School); the Department of Political Science at the University of Ghana; the Ghana Police College; the Ghana Military Academy and the Armed Forces Staff College.[5]
Clerk worked with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in a senior administrative capacity as the Director of Administration and Human Resource Management at its headquarters in Accra and was also a lecturer at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon where he taught church management and administration courses.[1][5][41] Moreover, he was the Chairperson of the Missions and Monuments Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.[41][42] Earlier in his pastoral career, he had a stint as an associate minister at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu.[1][5] For a long time, he was the minister-in-charge of the Grace Presbyterian Church, Nungua North in Accra.[1][5] Additionally, Nicholas Clerk sat on the school board of the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School and was active in the alumni association.[1]
At the dedication of its chapel in 2019, the Grace Presbyterian Church, Nungua-North unveiled a memorial plaque in honour of Nicholas T. Clerk.
Selected works
Clerk, N. T. (1972) Bureaucracy and the One-party State: Politics and Administrative Transformation in Ghana[61][62]
Clerk, N. T. & Dabi-Dankwa, S.N.O. (1988) Half a century of secondary school education by the Presbyterian Church : the story of Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, Odumase Krobo / Legon golden jubilee, 1938–1988[63]
Clerk, N. T. (1990) Report of the Public Service Review and Reorganization Commission, 1989–1990 / Vol. 1, Main report. Entebbe: Ministry of Public Service and Cabinet Affairs[4][64]
^ abcUganda; Public Service Review and Reorganization Commission; Clerk, Nicholas T; Uganda; Ministry of Public Service and Cabinet Affairs (1990). Report of the Public Service Review and Reorganization Commission, 1989–1990 Vol. 1, Vol. 1. Entebbe: Ministry of Public Service and Cabinet Affairs. OCLC651089969.
^ abcdefghijklmnoObituary: The Rev. Dr. Nicholas Timothy Clerk. Accra: Christian Messenger – Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Funeral Bulletin. 27 October 2012.
^Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 26 August 1954. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017.
^ abClerk, Nicholas, T. (5 June 1982). Obituary: The Reverend Carl Henry Clerk. Accra: Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Funeral Bulletin.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"FamilySearch.org". familysearch.org. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
^Patton, Adell Jr. (13 April 1996). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa (1st ed.). Gainesville: University Press of Florida. p. 29. ISBN9780813014326.
^Clerk, Nicholas Timothy (1972). Bureaucracy and the one-party state: Politics and administrative tranformation in Ghana (Thesis). OCLC914999075.
^Clerk, Nicholas T; Dabi-Dankwa, Seth N. O (1988). Half a century of secondary school education by the Presbyterian Church: the story of Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, Odumase Krobo/Legon golden jubilee, 1938–1988. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified. OCLC20045010.
^Uganda; Public Service Review and Re-organization Commission; Clerk, Nicholas T (1990). Public Service Review and Reorganisation Commission, 1989–1990. Volume 1, Volume 1. Kampala: Public Service Review and Reorganisation Commission. OCLC1006053621.