James Victor Gbeho (born 12 January 1935, in Keta, Ghana) is a Ghanaian lawyer and diplomat who was President of the ECOWAS Commission from 2010 to 2012, to which position he was unanimously elected at the 37th Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the 15 Member States.[1]

Victor Gbeho
President of the ECOWAS Commission
In office
18 February 2010 – 1 March 2012
Preceded byMohamed Ibn Chambas
Succeeded byKadré Désiré Ouedraogo
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
7 January 1997 – 7 January 2001
PresidentJerry John Rawlings
Preceded byObed Asamoah
Succeeded byHackman Owusu-Agyeman
Member of Parliament for Anlo Constituency
In office
7 January 2001 – 6 January 2005
PresidentJohn Kufuor
Personal details
Born
James Victor Gbeho

(1935-01-12) 12 January 1935 (age 89)
Keta, Ghana
Political partyNational Democratic Congress
Parent

He was Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 2001, under President Jerry Rawlings, and he was the Member of Parliament for the Anlo constituency from January 2001 to January 2005. He was subsequently a foreign policy advisor to the government of President John Atta Mills. Before his retirement as a career diplomat and politician, Gbeho worked in the Ghana Foreign and Commonwealth Service and served in various capacities at Ghana's diplomatic missions abroad. His postings included the Ghana missions in China, India, Nigeria, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland.[2]

Gbeho was Deputy High Commissioner to the Court of St. James's (UK) from 1972 until 1976, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ghana to the European offices of the United Nations in Geneva (1978–80), with concurrent accreditation to UNIDO in Vienna, Austria,[3] and was Ghana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York City from 1980 to 1990,[4] concurrently accredited to Cuba, Jamaica, and to Trinidad and Tobago.

In July 1994, the UN Secretary-General appointed him as special representative to Somalia.[5] In September 1995 Jerry Rawlings, as chairman of ECOWAS, appointed Gbeho as ECOWAS special representative for Liberia.[6]

Education

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Educated at Achimota School, he is the son of Philip Gbeho.

Politics

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Victor Gbeho was the member of parliament of the Anlo constituency in the 3rd parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana as an independent candidate. He was elected as the member of parliament for the Anlo constituency in the 2000 Ghanaian general elections, for which he was an independent candidate.[7] His constituency was the second independent candidate to win the said election in the Volta Region.[8][9][10]

Gbeho was elected with 19,083 votes out of 28,156 total valid votes cast. This was equivalent to 68.2% of the total valid votes cast.[11]

He was elected over Clend M. Kwasi Sowu of the National Democratic Congress, Esther llan A. Nyamalor an independent candidate, Godwin Kwaku Defeamekpor of the New Patriotic Party, Clemence Kwami Abotsi of the Convention People's Party, Cornelius Kofi Binewoatsor of the National Reformed Party, Prince Richard Abotsi of the United Ghana Movement, and independent candidate Goyimwole Enukomeko Kpodo. These obtained 4,223, 3,800, 327, 249, 162, 118 and 0 votes respectively out of the total valid votes cast. These were equivalent to 15.1%, 13.6%, 1.2%, 0.9%, 0.6% and 0.4% respectively of total valid votes cast.[11][12]

References

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  1. ^ "Ambassador Victor Gbeho, New President of Ecowas Commission, Assumes Duty", AllAfrica, 12 March 2010.
  2. ^ "James Victor Gbeho, Biography". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  3. ^ Ambassador James Victor Gbeho profile, Office of the President.
  4. ^ "Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations - Past Ambassadors". United Nations. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  5. ^ UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN SOMALIA II.
  6. ^ Adekeye Adebajo, Liberia's civil war: Nigeria, ECOMOG, and regional security in West Africa, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002, pp. 182–183.
  7. ^ Electoral Commission of Ghana Parliamentary Result-Election 2000. Ghana: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. 2007. p. 52.
  8. ^ "Statistics of Presidential and Parliamentary Election Results". Fact Check Ghana. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Ghana Parliamentary Chamber: Parliament Elections held in 1992". Archived from the original on 19 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Ghana Election 2000: Volta Region". Ghana Elections Results Dashboard. Peace FM. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  11. ^ a b Electoral Commission of Ghana -Parliamentary Result-Election 2000. Ghana: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. 2007. p. 52.
  12. ^ "Ghana Election 2000: Anlo Constituency". Ghana Elections Results Dashboard. Peace FM. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
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  • Profile, African Green Revolution Forum]. Accessed 7 March 2024.
Political offices
Preceded by Foreign Minister
1997 – 2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the ECOWAS Commission
2010 – 2012
Succeeded by
Parliament of Ghana
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Anlo
2001 – 2005
Succeeded by
Clement Kofi Humado
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Van H. Sekyi
Permanent Representatives to the United Nations
1980 – 1990
Succeeded by
George Lamptey