October 7th 1919- April 7th 2021

Emmanuel Evans Anfom was born on the 7th of October 1919 at the Evans family house in Jamestown, Accra.  He was the son of William Quarshie Anfom and Mary Emma Anfom (nee Evans).  His maternal grandfather was William Timothy Evans, a well-known catechist of the Basel Mission Church and son of Welsh traders.  His father’s antecedence was from the Shai Hills area in Dodowa and Doryumu.

In 1925, he registered to start school at the Government Junior Boys’ School in Jamestown.  Aged 11, he was admitted to the legendary Osu Salem Boys’ School.  He was entering a school which had produced eminent Ghanaians.

In 1935, he won a Cadbury Agricultural Scholarship to Achimota School which was in its eighth year of existence.  He completed in 1939 and won a Gold Coast Scholarship to study medicine in the United Kingdom.  Due to the Second World War he had to wait it out and began to teach at Achimota.  In mid-1942, Emmanuel and other scholars with a 24-hour notification, boarded a ship from Takoradi which took almost 5 weeks to arrive in the United Kingdom.

He graduated from the University of Edinburgh and immediately registered for the DTM&H course (Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Health).  He worked for a short period in the UK in which time he met a charming African-American lady called Leonora Evans.  Although he sailed back to the Gold Coast, Leonora eventually came to the Gold Coast where she and Emmanuel got married at the Achimota School Chapel.  She was given away by Sir Arku Korsah.

Emmanuel was first posted to the Korle bu Hospital in Accra and in the beginning of 1951, transferred to Dunkwa-on-Offin and then Tarkwa.  In mid-1954, he left the Gold Coast with his young family back to Edinburgh to study.  Upon his return he was posted to the Kumasi Central Hospital (now Komfo Anokye Hospital), which was at the time, the most modern in West Africa.  In 1956, he was moved to Sekondi where he was stationed at the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital and then soon after promoted to the rank of Surgical Specialist.  In mid-1957 he received a letter posting him to Tamale.  He registered a mild protest with the reason that Tamale was “too far”. His boss Dr Eustace Akwei She wrote back asking “TOO FAR FROM WHERE”.

After a year in Tamale, he came back to Accra.  He describes in his book that he left Tamale with a “heavy heart”.

After a few more stints in several hospitals, Emmanuel returned to Edinburgh on a Research Fellowship returning to Ghana to be offered the Vice Chancellorship of the University of Science and Technology from August 1st 1967 to December 31st 1973. He faced many challenges in this role, from student unrest to the resignation of lecturers due to disputes over pay.    Whilst in this position, he served terms as President of the Ghana Medical Association and the West African College of Surgeons.

In mid-July 1974, he was offered an Honorary D.Sc. from the Salford University in the United Kingdom.  He then took up appointment as Chairman for the Council of Higher Education, an organisation that advised Government on all Higher Education matters in the country.   He was then appointed as Commissioner for Education and Culture until the uprising of June 4th, 1979.  He spent that night in a police cell in Tamale.

At age 61, he kept himself busy as a Presbyter with the Presbyterian Church and also as Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council.  He was also appointed as Chairman of the National Education Commission.

In 2012, the Akfrofi Christaller Institute on which board he served from 1986 to 2002, awarded him with an Honorary D.Litt. degree In 2015, the Hockey Federation honoured Emmanuel with a special citation which was presented by President John Mahama.  In 2003, he had been honoured by KNUST with an Honorary D.Sc and in 2006 he was decorated with Member of the Order of the Star of Ghana.

Emmanuel Evans Anfom after having lived a long, fruitful, useful life to family, community, nation and the world, quietly slipped away aged 101 on the morning of April 7th at 9.10 am.

Reference: Funeral Brochure of Dr. Emmanuel Evans Anfom Thursday, May 13th, 2021.