João Gonçalves Evenunye Baëta was born on Monday, June 15th 1942, to the late Reverend Professor Emeritus Christian Gonçalves Baëta and Mrs Victoria Essie Baëta (neé van Lare). He was their second son and was named Evenunye, “God has been good to us” in response to an answered prayer.

Growing up in a modest and loving Presbyterian home, education was always a priority. His early years were spent at the Presbyterian primary school in Ho, where his father, Reverend Baëta, was the Synod Clerk of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Later on, the family moved to the Legon campus, where Reverend Baëta was invited to teach Theology at the newly established University College of Ghana. João then continued his primary education at the Anumle primary school near Legon, where contemporaries were Ambassador Richard Turkson, the late Noi Dowuona and the late Joel Hyde. Among them, many friendships that are more lasting were developed with the other children on the Legon Campus.

In 1954, chaperoned by his mother, Mrs. Victoria Baëta, and later his Aunt Lily Baëta, João, his siblings Stephanie and Basil and his cousin Billie were sent to the United Kingdom to continue their education. They spent their first years at West Wittering Chichester village school in West Sussex. João then moved to the grammar school in Hollington Park, Tunbridge Wells in Kent where his contemporaries were His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the late Jake Obetsebi Lamptey. To reconnect with his cultural and Ghanaian values, João returned home in 1957. That same year, he attended the Adisadel College, Cape Coast, and resided with Prof. and Mrs. Samuel Sey briefly before moving into the dormitory in Knight House. His classmates and friends at Adisadel College included Justice S. Y. Bimpong Buta, Professors Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, and J T Anim. In addition to being a good student academically, João excelled at cricket, for which he represented the College at various tournaments.

João’s love for cricket continued to his Legon days. He played cricket in the United Kingdom and was a member of the Ghana national cricket team. The late President John Atta Mills who was also his hallmate at Legon Hall played field hockey at the same time and they developed a lasting friendship. João graduated Adisadel College in 1961 and from 1962 to 1965, he studied Political Science at the University of Ghana, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree. His roommate in Legon was Mr. Abel Edusei with whom he bonded to the point of being brothers and he was  also very close to Willie Fugar Esq. during his university days. In 1965, he pursued a Diploma in Public Administration from Greenhill, now known as the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), and was appointed into the Foreign Service on 18th August that same year. From May 1966 to May 1969 he was posted to the Northern Region Administration, where he served as the District Administrative Officer in Yendi, Salaga, Damongo and at the Regional Office in Tamale. In 1971, He pursued the Foreign Service Course Certificate at the University of Oxford followed by a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Ghana in 1973. He was then posted to the United Kingdom, where he served at the Ghana High Commission in London between June 1973 and August 1978. After successfully qualifying as a Barrister-at-Law from the Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn, in the United Kingdom, in 1978, he served at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C. between November 1983 and November 1988.

João was especially close to his friend Hisham Omayad, Johnny Quarshie – Idun who was his aunt’s husband, his uncle Sylvan Amegashie had a very close relationship with his brother in law Gordon Alandou and they called each other “beau”.

He was appointed Ghana’s Ambassador to Yugoslavia in September 1997, where he distinguished himself and received the First-Class Order of the Yugoslavia Star from the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Dr Vojislav Kostunica.

After a short illness, he passed away peacefully at the Nyaho Medical Centre on Thursday, 9th April 2020.He is survived by his loving wife Happy and his two sons César and Joao Joseph (Jiji) and his three siblings, Barbara, Robert, and Basil.