Kurankyi-Taylor

Kurankyi-Taylor (1922 at Cape Coast, Ghana - 1959) was a prominent Ghanaian judge and activist. The son of James Eggay Taylor, a Cape Coast merchant, was an old boy of Mfantsipim School and an active member of the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society and the National Congress of British West Africa (see Adu Boahen, 1996. "Mfantsipim and making of Ghana: A Centenary History 1876-1976", Sankofa Educational Publishers, Accra, Ghana. Page 253). Kurankyi-Taylor was educated at Mfantsipim, Fourah Bay College, Manchester University and Cambridge University, where he earned a Ph.D.

During his time in the United Kingdom, he was active in the Pan-African movement, and was one of the delegates to the 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress (see Adi, Hakeem and Marika Sherwood 1995. The 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress Revisited. New Beacon Press: London. Page 119). He was a member of the Negro Welfare Centre in Liverpool, together with his brother Jimmy Taylor, who helped organize the 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress (Ibid page 16.) and was also a member of the West African Students Union (WASU).

Upon Kurankyi-Taylor’s return to Ghana, he taught at Mfantsipim and University College of Ghana. He was originally a member of Kwame Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) during the fight for independence from Britain. Kurankyi-Taylor later left CPP due to differences with Nkrumah and joined the National Liberation Movement (later United Party) led by Dr. Kofi Busia and Dr. J.B. Danquah (see Austin, Dennis 1970. "Politics in Ghana 1946-1960". Oxford University Press: London. Pages 168, 170, 268). Kurankyi-Taylor was elected to Parliament from Ashanti (Kumasi South) in the 1956 Elections with the highest vote in the whole elections (Ibid page 351).

When he died unexpectedly in Manchester at the age of 37, Dr. J.B. Danquah of the United Party paid him tribute: “Kurankyi-Taylor was a persuasive, eloquent and trenchant advocate who devoted himself not only to the cause of his party but also to the nation as a whole” ("Daily Graphic", Ghana, January 29, 1959, Page 2 available from the National Archives, Ghana).

His book of poems “Reflected Thoughts” was published posthumously in 1959 by his wife Dorothy Kurankyi-Taylor (nee Dorothy Davies), whom he had met during his studies in Manchester. His dissertation was titled “Ashanti Indigenous Legal Institutions and Present Role” University of Cambridge 1951.