Why I no longer use the name ‘Lawrence Addae’ – Majority Leader explains

It will be recalled that some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), have accused the Suame Member of Parliament of having skeletons in his cupboard for which reason he changed his name.

But speaking with Joy News, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu mentioned that it was his senior cousin who gave him the name “Lawrence Addae” – when he was entering elementary school.

He, however, stated that he was inspired to revert to a pure local name upon taking inspiration from a Ga student in his secondary school, St. Peters.

The leader of government business in Parliament said he had to merge his previous name ‘Osei Bonsu’ with his father’s name ‘Kyei Mensah’ to get his current name.

“I was born ‘Osei Bonsu’. My father is Kwaku Kyei Mensah. But my father was born on an Awukudae so he used to be called Kwaku Addai. So growing up into elementary school, my senior cousin was the one who named me Lawrence Addae. It was the name I bear at class two or class three up to the secondary school level. Then we had a young man who came to my school, St Peters Secondary School…a Ga guy who was called Quarshie.

“He came to form a student movement for African Unity. I think we were impressed with the knowledge, the Africanness of the man, so, when I went there, I was inspired by Quashie and I had wanted to change my name from the Addae Lawrence that I bear to use my maiden name ‘Osei Bonsu’ and joining it up with my father’s name that is ‘Kyei Mensah’. So that’s how come I joined it up to become Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu. That is incorporating my father’s name ‘Kyei Mensah’ and my own ‘Osei Bonsu’,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained.

Online news portal, mynewsgh.com reported in January last year that NDC General Secretary, Asiedu Nketia said the majority leader had a dark past thus making him unable to take any other ministerial appointment.

It reported that Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was allegedly suspended in SHS for alleged burglary and unruly activities.

A letter of suspension from St. Peters Secondary School (a school he is said to have attended in the mid-1970s) for allegedly breaking into the school’s stores among others.

The reports said his original name was actually Lawrence Addae before the alleged incident which earned him disgrace in his teenage years until he decided to put his past behind, turn over a new leaf and gained admission into the then University Science and Technology (now known as the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology KNUST) for a Bachelor’s degree in Designing.

He allegedly changed his name from Lawrence Addae to Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in the late 1970s as contained in a circular disseminated by the then Director of Academic responsible for Students Affairs. The circular was numbered 2573/Vol.1 of August 9, 1979.

He is also alleged to have changed his course from Designing to Planning immediately after he changed his name but gave an excuse for changing course as his difficulty in understanding certain aspects of Designing, mynewsgh.com reported.