Vincent Kwabena Damuah

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Vincent Kwabena Damuah (April 1930 – August 1992) was a Ghanaian Catholic priest, theologian, and politician. He served on Ghana’s Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) from January to November 1982 and later founded the Afrikania Mission, an organization promoting African traditional religion.

Damuah earned a Ph.D. in African Studies from Howard University in 1971. He became the first Ghanaian Catholic priest to return to African traditional religion and helped write an African script called Edu. He founded the Afrikania Mission to advance African spiritual traditions and was active in religious and cultural debates across Africa. He was a Catholic priest from 1957 to 1982 and also worked as a consultant on Afro-American affairs in the Pittsburgh diocese in the United States before returning to Ghana in 1976. He was suspended from the priesthood by the Catholic Church because of his political involvement with the PNDC.

In December 1982, Damuah founded the Afrikania Mission. He had been detained during the Nkrumah era for criticizing the government over the deportation of Anglican Bishop Roseveare, and was released after intervention by Archbishop Amissah. During the four-month AFRC rule in 1979, he publicly supported capital punishment, a stance that drew heavy criticism. He joined the PNDC on 2 January 1982, which led to his suspension from the priesthood; he resigned from government later that year.

Damuah published several works, including Afrikania (1984), African Contribution to Civilization (1985), and Miracle at the Shrine (1990). He passed away in August 1992 at the age of 62.