NASA rocket scientist loses illustrious father

The world-renowned Ghanaian-born rocket scientist and first African to fly spacecraft in orbit has lost his illustrious father, Professor Justice A. Kodzo Paaku Kludze. Professor Kludze was a retired Ghanaian Supreme Court Judge and a distinguished Professor emeritus of law at Rutgers University in the United States. He died at Hohoe in Ghana after a short illness.

According to the rocket scientist, this is a major loss and blow to the family, the people of Gbi (Hohoe) and Ghana as a whole. The rocket scientist wants the world to know that the government and people of Ghana have shown the family that Ghana is a country worth dying for. He asked, who said Ghana is not worth dying for? Dr. Kludze was full of praise and would like to thank the government and people of Ghana for the profound generosity, support and kindness shown to the family during this difficult time.

Professor Kludze is a product of the local Roman Catholic boys’ school in Hohoe, where he was always the first (Number One) in all his classes right from Class one. After successfully passing the Common Entrance Examinations, he was admitted into Adisadel College in Cape Coast (one of the most prestigious institutions in Ghana). This great intellectual was the only student from the British Mandated Togoland to receive a full scholarship to an institution in the then Gold Coast that year.

Professor Kludze became an orphan after losing his father (the only surviving parent) during his second year at Adisadel College. Due to severe financial constraints and other unfortunate situations, this brilliant and academically upright man, after passing the G.C.E. O-Level and School Certificate Examination with distinction, could not go to the sixth-form. He then accepted a job with the Gold Coast Civil Service. After taking the Civil Service’s Executive Officers Examination (in which he topped the whole Ghana), he became an Executive Officer at a very young age and had the opportunity to work at Akuse, Ho and Tumo. While working within the Civil Service, he studied on his own at home and took the A-Level examination as a private candidate. After successfully passing this examination, he was admitted into the University of Ghana with full scholarship to read law.

While a student at the University of Ghana at Legon, he served as the first president of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS). As a distinguished student leader, he was instrumental in resisting the repressive policies of the Kwame Nkrumah regime. He earned his BA and LLB degrees from the University of Ghana, and as usual, he was at the top of his class after taking his final university examinations from a Kwame Nkrumah Political University (jail).

Due to his brilliant performance at the Law School he was appointed a lecturer before he was awarded his LLB degree in 1965 and later in that same year, he was called to the Ghana Bar. He went on to earn his PhD in Law from the University of London in 1969 and taught at the University of Ghana from 1965 to 1977, where he quickly rose to Senior Lecturer. He has been a visiting professor at Temple University, a professor and Dean at the University of Calabar, Nigeria. He has taught at Rutgers University in New Jersey since 1980 and became a distinguished professor of law at the university in 1991 (the only black to this day to be appointed a distinguished professor at the law school).

His performance at the bar was spectacular. He has defended people of all backgrounds, from the poor and powerless to the rich and famous. He challenged the status quo and questioned the judgments of respectable judges and intellectuals such as Justice Olenu, Bentsi-Enchil, etc. Quite a number of his arguments and writings have resulted in landmark cases.

In the summer of 2002, the University of London conferred on him a Higher Doctorate degree in Law (LLD). This highest degree (higher than a PhD) in the books of the University of London was conferred on him purely for his exceptional academic contribution to African law. He was the first Ghanaian to be awarded such a degree based solely on academic excellence. He has taught and mentored many distinguished and accomplished Ghanaian lawyers, including Chief Justices, the current speaker of Parliament, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and most current members of the Ghana Supreme Court, current and past directors of the law school, most of the lecturers of the faculty of law, chief state attorneys and a considerable number of other prominent lawyers.

He has written five law books, which are being used as textbooks in Ghana, parts of Africa and the rest of the world. In 2003, he was appointed Director of Non-statutory programs, i.e. career magistrate course and police prosecutor course. For the love of his country and law, he served Ghana in this capacity until his death. Based on his reputation as an academic, trial lawyer and a judge, the government appointed him chairman of the Ghana Law Reform Commission and the prestigious Law Review Commission, both of which he served faithfully.

Dr. Kludze, Jr. revealed that his late father was a strong supporter and admirer of the space program who would read or listen to anything related to NASA in the news. Appearing emotional, the younger Dr. Kludze, Jr. said he was very thankful to God for giving his family the opportunity to spend the last year of his life with them in the United States.

Dr. Kludze, Jr., the son, is very proud of his father and full of admiration for him. Professor Kludze by any standards was an accomplished man who came from a very humble background and worked his way up to the highest level life could take him. He was a true achiever who studied law and studied it very well. He can be considered the "father" of the ongoing "winner take all" discussions in Ghana having being the first to openly open up the discussions.

The NASA rocket scientist, heading will be home to Ghana this week to lay his father to rest. Professor Kludze will be laid in state at the forecourt of the State House in Accra on December 20th and burial at Hohoe, his hometown, on December 21, 2013.