How a foreign-educated elite has driven Ghana's political transformation
Ghana has been blessed with some of the most gifted intellectuals in the world, and some of them have gone on to study in some of the world's finest schools and universities. These erudite men and women have then returned to the country and played various roles in Ghana's political sphere.
Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkromah (1909 J972) profited immensely from studying abroad. He enrolled at Lincoln University in 1935. In 1939, Nkrumah enrolled at Lincoln's seminary and at the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
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He gained a Bachelor of Theology degree from Lincoln in 1942, the top student in the course. He earned from UPenn the following year, a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy and a Master of Science in Education.
And let's talk about the effortlessly brilliant prime minister of the second republic and Nkrumah's arch-rival, Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia (July 11, 1013 - August 28, 1978. He gained his first degree with Honours in Medieval and Modern History from the University of London, through correspondence.
He then went on to study at University College, Oxford, where he was the college's first African student. He took a BA (Hons) in Philosophy. Politics and Economics in 1941, an MA in 1946 and a DPhil in Social Anthropology in 1947 at the Nuffield College, Oxford.
Enter Dr Hilla Liman in December 12, 1934 - January 23, 1998)) who was President of Ghana from September 24, 1979 to December 31, 1981.
Between 1957 and 1960, he studied Political Science at the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science. He subsequently completed a Diploma in French at the Sorbonne University, France (The Sorbonne is the most prestigious university in France).
He also obtained a BA (Hons) degree in History at the University of London and a Ph.D. in Political Science and Constitutional Law at the University of Paris.
Then let's talk about Ekow Nkensen Arkaah (July 11, 1913 - April 25, 2001 who was Vice President of Ghana from 1993 to 1997.
Nicknamed "the stubborn cat", he obtained his first degree at Tufts College, after which he attended Harvard University for a Master of Business Administration degree between 1952 and 1954.
And there is Professor Albert Kwadwo Adu Boahen (May 24, 1932 - May 24, 2006) who is credited with shattering the culture of silence that characterised the country during the PNDC era.
In 1959, he received a Ph.D in African history from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, the first Ghanaian at that university.
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born December 8, 1938), the second President of the Fourth Republic, studied at Lincoln's Inn, London from 1959 to 1961 and Exeter College, Oxford from 1961 to 1964.
John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (July 21, 1944 - July 24, 2012), who was the third President of the Fourth Republic, studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science where he obtained an LLM in 1968 and earned a PhD in Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies School of Law.
In 1971, he was actually selected for the prestigious Fulbright Scholar programme Stanford University Law School in California the US.
His successor, John Dramani Mahama (born November 29, l9580, also studied at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow in the Soviet Union from where be obtained a postgraduate degree in 1988.
The current President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, went to study in England as a teen. He studied for his 0 and A-Level examinations at Lancing College, Sussex.
He began the Philosophy, Politics and Economics course at New College. Oxford in 1962. He consequently received legal training at the Inns of Court School of Law.
All in all. the overarching message is that for one be a respected politician, one's curriculum vitae has to be adorned with a degree from a prestigious university in Europe or America. Let's watch out for someone who would buck the trend!
The writer is a keen student of Ghanaian history. E-mail: [email protected]