ERASMUS RANSFORD TAWIAH MADJITEY(11 November 1920 – 23 February 1996)

E.R.T. Madjitey (as he was generally known) was born at Aframase(Manya Krobo), Ghana. He started his education at Obenyemi, where he lived with his uncle Mr. J. A. Okumador from 1928 to 1930. He had his basic education at Presbyterian Junior School at Odumase-Krobo,and Presbyterian Senior Boys Secondary School at Bana Hill.

He continued at Mfantsipim School and completed at Adisadel College in 1940. He then advanced to then Achimota College,the predecessor of the University of Ghana, where he excelled with an 'Inter BA' (passed with distinction). E.R.T. Madjitey taught Mathematics and Latin at Accra Academy briefly before joining the Gold Coast Police Force in 1948 as one of its first recruited Ghanaian college graduates.

He rose to become Deputy Commissioner of Police in March 1958. On 9 October 1958, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, then Prime Minister of Ghana appointed him the Commissioner of Police, replacing Arthur Lewin Alexander, the last British citizen to occupy that position, making E.R.T. Madjitey the first Ghanaian to head the Ghana Police Service, the first Sub-Sahara African and African in the British Commonwealth to command a Police Force.

In 1966,he was appointed Ghana's High Commissioner to Pakistan,and left the diplomatic service in 1969, hence,returned to Ghana and involved himself in politics.

E.R.T. Madjitey became the Member of Parliament for Manya Krobo constituency on a ticket of Dr. Komla Gbedemah's National Alliance of Liberals(NAL) from 1969 to 1972 after the army under Colonel I.K Acheampong overthrew the government of Ghana's second republic and parliament was suspended and political parties banned.

As Dr. Gbedemah had been banned from holding public office by the National Liberation Council(NLC -the military junta that carried out Ghana's first ever coup d'etat that overthrew the Government of Dr.Kwame Nkrumah), the various opposition parties came together as the Justice Party, thus, E.R.T. Madjitey became its leader, making him the opposition party leader from 1970 to 1972.He also served on the Council of State between 1970 and 1972.

When Acheampong then Head of State decided to overturn the democratic process with the concept off a Union government dubbed UNIGOV in 1977, E.R.T Madjitey together with William Ofori-Atta, Harry Sawyerr, Victor Owusu, Albert Adu Boahen, General A.A Afrifa, G. K. Agama, Sam Okudjeto, Obed Asamoah and others constituted a small anti-UNIGOV group called the Peoples Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ).

It was to resist this move after a referendum widely believed to have been rigged. Madjitey and some members of the PMFJ were arrested and put in preventative detention. Acheampong however, became so unpopular by 1978 that he was ousted by his military colleagues on the Supreme Military Council(SMC) in a palace coup and replaced by General F.W.K Akuffo on 5th July 1978.

General Akuffo decided to return the nation to constitutional rule and therefore set up a Constitutional Drafting Commission, E.R.T Madjitey between 1977 and 1978,served as a member of the Constitutional Drafting Commission which drew up the Constitution for Ghana's third republic, he was also a member of the 1979 Constituent Assembly consequently set up to defend and ratify the Drafted Constitution.

When the SMC under Gen. Akuffo lifted the ban on political activities. Madjitey helped found the Popular Front Party led by Victor Owusu in 1979 which became the main opposition party in the third republic.

He was also a founding member of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Erasmus Ransford Tawiah Madjitey was not only an embodiment of his tribe, he epitomized a shield around his tribesmen, a true pillar upon which his people rested,his commitment and dedication to his people were so exemplary that the title "Adeyekote" (There is a warrior in the house) was conferred on him by Nene Oklemekuku Azu Mate-Kole II, the late paramount chief of Manya Krobo.

E.R.T. Madjitey attained so many honours including; Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953 and Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in1960.

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