Who We Are

The Order of the Knights of St. John was introduced into the Gold Coast, now Ghana, in 1933 and this was by divine providence. One Anthony Quansah of Saltpond, then a shipping clerk and a Catholic, was always observed to say the grace before and after meals whenever he and his co-workers had lunch in the ship that frequently docked at the Takoradi Port. An expatriate officer on board one of these ships was impressed when he observed that Anthony made the sign of the Cross whenever he prayed.

He spoke to Anthony and as soon as he was convinced that the clerk was a Catholic and hailed from a Catholic family, he discussed several topics with him one of which was the Order of the Knights of St. John. The officer, in fact, gave Anthony some papers about the Order and young Anthony lost no time in getting those documents to his father, the Late Bro. Emmanuel Raphael Quansah of Saltpond.

The late Bro. Quansah got a few zealous aspirants together and applied to the supreme Commandery in the United States of America for permission to form a Commandery in Saltpond in the Central Region of Ghana. He also approached the then Archbishop of Cape Coast, The Late Archbishop Thomas William Porter in 1933 for permission to introduce the Order into the country.

His Grace stipulated that they were to conduct meetings with prospective members for a period of five years while the application was being considered. At the end of the fifth year i.e. 1937, His Grace gave approval for the establishment of the Order in Saltpond. In the course of exchanging correspondence with the Supreme Secretary, Bro. Quansah was informed of the presence of one Bro. Bonito, an initiated member of the Order who was at that time the Manager of a merchant firm in the Gold Coast.

Bro. Bonito with the executive authority arranged the initiation of the aspirants and the eventual inauguration of the first Commandery of the Order at Saltpond.

By providential coincidence, the parish at Saltpond was dedicated to St. John the Baptist and it was, therefore, most appropriate that the first Commandery in West Africa should be chartered as St. John the Baptist Commandery No. 346. The Commandery was duly inaugurated in 1937 with Bro. Quansah as its first President.

With this development, the stage was set for the growth and expansion of the Ancient and Noble Order of the Knights of St. John in other parts of the country and beyond. Accra, the capital of the British colony of the Gold Coast, was the next to be attracted by the Order.

The inauguration ceremonies of Sacred Heart Commandery No. 351, Accra was performed by the late Worthy President, E. R. Quansah of Commandery No. 346 on Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 1944 with the approval of Mgr. Noser, later Bishop of Accra.

With the establishment of the Sacred Heart Commandery in Accra, the biblical mustard seed was sown, and indeed, it multiplied into several folds. In no time the Order of the Knights of the St. John was flourishing in many parishes in the country with its military wing adding colour and pageantry to all festive church occasions, thus offering inducement to the young men to take more interest in religious affairs of the church.

In July 1992 the name was changed to the Knights of St. John International to reflect its Global Status. Consequence to that came the Globalization concept which saw a worldwide transformation of the Order into geographical areas with the appointment of Supreme Subordinate Presidents. Ghana was established as a Supreme Subordinate Commandery with Major- General J. W. Biney as its first Supreme Subordinate President. With its present status, the Supreme Subordinate Commandery has jurisdiction over ten Grand Commanderies in Ghana, namely, Accra West, Cape Coast Grand, Koforidua Ho Grand, Tamale Grand, Kumasi Grand, Wa North Grand, Wa South Grand, Sunyani Grand and Navrongo -Bolgantanga Grand