Background
Desmond Luke was born on October 6, 1935 in Freetown, Western Area, Sierra Leone.
Desmond Luke was born on October 6, 1935 in Freetown, Western Area, Sierra Leone.
Educated at the Prince of Wales School, Freetown; King’s College Taunton; Keble College, Oxford and Magdalene College Cambridge, where he read law.
In 1964 he won a United Nations Human Rights fellowship and did research in India before returning to practise as a lawyer. He was appointed ambassador to West Germany in Bonn in 1969, also covering the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg from 1970. In 1971 he was appointed ambassador to France and Permanent Representative to the EEC.
With the elections of May 1973 he decided to fight in Freetown West Three seat. He returned home with the support of the President and Vice President, Sorie Koroma, but was opposed by party loyalists in his constituency. Standing without official party nomination, though claiming to represent the APC, he won easily gaining four times more votes than his opponent and was swiftly appointed Foreign Minister in the place of Solomon Pratt who was moved to Development and Economic Affairs.
A popular and active diplomat, barrister and Cambridge blue who earned a high reputation for himself as an ambassador in Europe. His advice on Foreign Affairs and the question of association with the European Economic Community was much appreciated by President Siaka Stevens.